Bad Freienwalde (Oder)

Bad Freienwalde is a spa town in the Märkisch-Oderland district in Brandenburg, Germany.GeographyThe town is situated on the Alte Oder, an old branch of the Oder River at the northwestern rim of the Oderbruch basin and the steep rise of the Barnim Plateau. It is located 15km east of Eberswalde, and 50km northeast of Berlin, near the border with Poland.Bad Freienwalde has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church as well as manufactures of furniture and machinery. The neighbouring forests and its medicinal springs make it a favorite summer resort of the inhabitants of Berlin. A new tower commands a fine panoramic view over the Oder valley.The municipal area comprises the villages of Altranft, Altglietzen, Bralitz, Hohensaaten, Hohenwutzen, Neuenhagen and Schiffmühle.HistoryThe settlement of Vrienwalde in the Margraviate of Brandenburg was first mentioned in a 1316 deed and appeared as a town in 1364. From 1618, the Freienwalde manor was directly held by the Brandenburg prince-electors (Kurfürsten).A mineral spring was discovered in 1683. The alchemist Johann Kunckel brought it to the attention of the "Great Elector" Frederick William of Brandenburg, who, gout-ridden, arrived in Freienwalde the next year. Recorded by the physician Bernhardus Albinus in 1685, the Kurfürstenquelle became the foundation of Freienwalde's rise as a spa town. Frederick William's son King Frederick I of Prussia had a first maison de plaisance erected by the architect Andreas Schlüter.