Bad Freienwalde - Prussian memorial sites

A royal spa

Freienwalde is the oldest health and spa resort in the Mark Brandenburg region. Frederick II sent his willing officers to the small town especially after the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763 and promoted the expansion of the baths. The general adjutant of Frederick II, Ludwig Felix von Borcke, died there during his spa stay in 1751. A magnificent epitaph in St. Nikolai parish church is a reminder of him.

Frederika Louise in Freienwalde

The Prussian queen Frederika Louise, married to Frederik William II since 1769, stayed regularly in Freienwalde from 1788 and thus played a decisive role in the economic and cultural revival of the small town. Frederika Louise arranged for the area around the spa to be landscaped and created a pleasure garden on the Apothekerberg hill, including a small pavilion, which is the so-called tea house today. After the death of her husband in 1797, she made Freienwalde her widow's seat. David Gilly built a castle for her on the Apothekerberg hill in 1798/99, where she spent her summers until 1803.

Traces of prosperity

Many late-Baroque and neoclassical rendered façades on the Bürgerhäus community centres in the historic town centre bear witness to Freienwalde's prosperity in the 18th and 19th century. The castle (with the memorial to the industrialist Walther Rathenau) and the castle grounds have been preserved (www.schloss-freienwalde.de). More information on the development of Bad Freienwalde can be found in the permanent exhibition at Oderland Museum, one of the oldest museums in Brandenburg (www.oderlandmuseum.de).