Bungsberg

The Bungsberg is the highest point in the north German state of Schleswig-Holstein (elevation: 168m). It lies in the region known as Holstein Switzerland in the municipality of Schönwalde am Bungsberg between Scheelholz and Mönchsneversdorf.The Bungsberg telecommunications tower is located on the Bungsberg.One of the longest rivers in Schleswig-Holstein, the Schwentine, rises on the Bungsberg.FormationThe Bungsberg is an ice age terminal moraine. Unusually, though, it was formed in the Saale glaciation period about 150,000 years ago. During the subsequent Weichselian glaciation – only about 10,000 years ago – the ice sheet could not cover the hill due to its height, it could only flow around it, and it therefore formed a nunatak.Leisure and recreationToday the Bungsberg is a very popular viewing point, from which the Baltic Sea may be seen in good weather. An observation tower, the Elisabethturm, was built in 1863 and 1864 on the Bungsberg by the Grand Duke of Oldenburg and, after being increased in height by four metres in 1875, is 22 metres high. It is not open to the public today.