'Schwarzwald' was a German operation under the leadership of General Kuno-Hans von Both, commanding the forces in the rear of the operational area of Generaloberst Johannes Friessner’s Heeresgruppe 'Südukraine', to boost security in the area some 18.5 miles (30 km) to the rear of the army group’s front in Slovakia (late August 1944).

The perceived threat was that of Soviet airborne forces which, the Germans thought, might be dropped to join with local partisan groups and so create a more effective resistance.