Turmwanderweg / Turm-Diplom From Tower to Tower - Walking tour with diploma

The “Turmwanderweg”, or tower hiking route, was created in 2005. Over 12 kilometres and a total of 490 metres altitude, it links for observation towers and several viewpoints and presents Bad Freienwalde from its most beautiful side – the hills. And this is not necessarily what you would expect in the middle of the North German Plain: Steep rises, deep gorges, extensive forests and, not least, the lovely views across Niederoderbruch region and Bad Freienwalde, the oldest spa town in the region. This all makes the tower hiking route an unforgettable experience. Naturally, the whole family can go “tower walking” here: the oldest “Tower Graduates” are over 80 and the youngest just a few months.Length: 13 kilometres (4 hours)Start: Falkenberg (Mark), finish: Bad FreienwaldeLogo/route sign: white tower on brown background or signs saying “Turmwanderweg”, red dot (Oderland path)Getting there: From Berlin Central Station, IC2257 (Ostseebad Binz) to Eberswalde. From here, take the RB60 (Wriezen) to Falkenberg / Mark (around 1 hour)Departure: from Bad Freienwalde, take the RB60 to Eberswalde. Continue from here by taking the RE3 (Lutheran town of Wittenberg) to Berlin central station (Hauptbahnhof) (about 1 hour).Route description: The starting point is the station in Falkenberg/Mark. From here, walk into the town centre to Fontaneplatz. Follow the marking of Theodor-Fontane-Weg (blue line on a white background), continue into the forest until at the edge of town, on the left, the marking for the tower hiking route starts. Now comes a steep rise to the ridgeway, where a magnificent section of the route passes through deciduous and mixed forests on good forest paths towards the Bismarck Tower. Climbing the tower (built in 1895, 112 steps, 28 metres high) is rewarded in good weather with a breath-taking view. You then return to the crossroads where you had followed the route markings to the left. Shortly after this, you will go round the “Watzmann”. The route then leads down into the Mariannenschlucht gorge and back up to the idyllically located Lake Teufelssee (around 45 minutes from the Bismarck Tower). The Haus der Naturpflege with the Eulenturm (Owl Tower) is reached after around 45 minutes from Lake Teufelssee. Once again, the climb is rewarded with a view across the forests of Bad Freienwalder, plus the town centre and spa area. The route continues to the Bad Freienwalde ski jump. The access tower to the 66 metre ski jump can also be climbed; the reward for those who make it, apart from the stamp on the card for the Tower Diploma, is the view into the open countryside and across the four ski jumps. The tower path now leads through the Papenberge and past the “Rose Garden” (a former cemetery) to the Kurfürsten Spring. This is just a few steps off our path. But the spring water is said to have a healing, revitalising effect, and so a swig of fresh spring water will give us the energy we need for the last stage, which starts with the steep climb up 225 steps to the chapel mentioned above. The little building was built in 1887 and recalls the predecessor building right in the same place in 1816. Now the tower hiking route turns steeply downhill again to the observation tower on the Galgenberg. This last tower climb also gives you the last stamp on the Tower Tour Card. The station is reached by taking the steps down from the tower towards Melcherstrasse. At the end of the road, the visitor guidance systems leads via the castle grounds to Königstrasse, the market square and finally the station.Tower Diploma: The principle for graduating is quite simple: Once you have climbed the Aussichtsturm, Eulenturm, Schanzenturm and Bismarckturm and had your success confirmed on the Tower Map, you’ll be awarded the coveted Bad Freienwald Tower Diploma. To do this, you just need to hand in or send the completed “stamp card” to the Tourist Information Centre and you’ll receive your own personal diploma, usually straight away.Sights:Falkenberg/Mark: Bismarck TowerHaus der Naturpflege with Eulenturm (Owl Tower)Ski jump complex “Sparkassen-Skiarena im Papengrund” with access tower"Rosengarten” (former cemetery)Kurfürsten SpringObservation tower on the GalgenbergPossible combinations: OderlandwegUnderfoot conditions / surface: not specifiedMaps/Literature: "Seenland Oder-Spree Nordteil (Landkreis Märkisch Oderland): Fahrrad- und Erlebniskarte", Maßstab 1 : 75.000 / 1 : 175.000 Landkarte Folded Map, Verlag: Pietruska; Auflage: 3 (22. November 2011), ISBN-10: 3934895824, Euro 6.90