Brend Tower

The Brendturm stands on the Brend, a 1,149-metre peak in the central Black Forest. It rises just north of the village of Simonswald and marks the highest point within Furtwangen’s municipal boundary. The summit offers sweeping views across the Black Forest’s highest ridges: the Feldberg, Belchen and Schauinsland. On clear days the Swiss Alps appear to the south, the Vosges to the west and the Swabian Alb to the east. A round granite tower, built in 1905 by the Black Forest Club, crowns the summit and can be climbed via an external spiral stairway. The tower’s granite walls are about 17 metres tall and once served as an air‑surveillance post during the Second World War. Nearby lie the remains of bunkers and anti‑aircraft positions. The summit also hosts a guesthouse and a nature‑friends’ house, while a large barbecue area can be reached by car from Furtwangen or Gütenbach. The surrounding high plateau stretches between the Brend and the Rohrhardsberg six kilometres to the north, forming one of the largest unbroken natural spaces in Baden‑Württemberg. Walkers can follow the European long‑distance path E1, which coincides here with the Westweg from Pforzheim to Basel. In winter the plateau becomes a centre for cross‑country skiing and related sports, while the Schwarzwälder Skimarathon and the Schwarzwald‑Bike‑Marathon pass over the summit. The Brend also lies on the European watershed: water flowing east reaches the Black Sea via the Danube, whereas streams west of the tower plunge into the Simonswälder valley and ultimately reach the Rhine.