Seeparkturm Freiburg, Wooden observation tower in Seepark, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
Seeparkturm Freiburg is a 15-metre wooden observation tower on a small rise on the north shore of the lake in Seepark. It was built in 1986 to designs by architects Heinz Hilmer and Christoph Sattler. Interior stairs lead to viewing platforms overlooking the park, the city with the Black Forest behind it, and westward to the Kaiserstuhl and the Vosges.
The tower was built in 1986 for the Landesgartenschau on a small rise on the lake's north shore, designed by architects Heinz Hilmer and Christoph Sattler at a cost of 100,000 DM. On 14 June 2003 arson destroyed it; the culprit was caught the same night. Architect Richard Kramer and the Gampp carpentry firm of Schluchsee rebuilt it on the old ring foundation, using surviving structural plans and photographs, since the original plans had been destroyed six months before the fire. The Badische Gemeinde-Versicherungs-Verband covered the 200,000 € cost, and the tower reopened on 29 June 2004.
The tower's name comes from Seepark, the park created for the 1986 Landesgartenschau. Since 2019 a 33-metre copy designed by the same architect stands in Freiburg's South Korean partner city Suwon, named Gwanggyo Lake Park Observatory, with a lift, café and exhibition space; a library there has a shelf built like a small Seeparkturm, stocked with books Freiburg donated.
The tower stands on a small hill on the north shore of the lake in Seepark. It has been closed repeatedly for repairs: rotten load-bearing timber was replaced in 2011, and after the middle platform was found unsafe in September 2017 it reopened in April 2018. Check current access before climbing.
The tower has a 33-metre twin: a copy with a lift, café and exhibition space opened in 2019 in Freiburg's South Korean partner city Suwon, in Gwanggyo Lake Park. It was designed by the same architect and is called Gwanggyo Lake Park Observatory; a nearby library shelf is built like a small Seeparkturm.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,027 contributors worldwide.