Brend, Mountain summit in Black Forest, Germany

Brend is a 1,149.3 m high mountain in the Central Black Forest and the highest point in the borough of Furtwangen. On its summit stand a 17-metre granite observation tower built in 1905, a restaurant and a Friends of Nature House. A spiral staircase, outside on the lower half and inside above, leads up the tower.

The Brendturm, a round tower of granite blocks about 17 metres high, was built on the summit by the Schwarzwaldverein in 1905. In the Second World War the tower and its surroundings were used for airspace surveillance, and ruins of bunker and anti-aircraft installations lie within a few hundred metres. A 1977 exchange of territory transferred the tower, the inn and a farm on the northwestern slope from Obersimonswald to Furtwangen.

The Brendturm on the summit was built in 1905 by the Schwarzwaldverein, and the tower, the inn and a Friends of Nature House stand together at the top. The tower served as the model for a kit made by Faller, the model railway supplier based in nearby Gütenbach. The European long-distance path E1, here sharing its route with the Westweg from Pforzheim to Basel, crosses the summit.

Hikers should prepare appropriate gear for the season, especially during the colder months from December through March. The various marked paths make it possible to reach the summit at your own pace depending on fitness level and available time.

The Brend marks the westernmost and highest point outside the Alps on the European watershed between the Rhine and the Danube. East of the summit, water drains toward the Black Sea; west of it, side streams drop about 700 metres into the Simonswald valley. The contrast between the deep V-shaped valleys of the Rhine system and the shallow high valleys of the Danube system can be seen here.