Circular hike - "Friedrich Fröbel" - Bad Blankenburg

From the town hall in Bad Blankenburg - where Friedrich Fröbel founded the first kindergarten in 1840 - the path leads past the buildings of the Evangelical Alliance and Greifenstein Castle, onto the ridge of the Steiger. The Steiger is part of the Muschelkalk slopes that separate the Thuringian Forest/Thuringian Slate Mountains from the Thuringian Basin to the north. On the steep south slope of the Kesselberg, the path slowly ascends, and hikers can experience particularly attractive representatives of the typical vegetation of Muschelkalk: Daphne mezereum, pasqueflower, gentian, various orchid species, columbine, and silver thistle. In close proximity to the path, stands of Europe's oldest tree species, the yew, can also be found.

Upon reaching the ridge, it is not only the unobstructed view of the mountains of the Thuringian Slate Mountains and Thuringian Forest that invites you to linger but also the monument here, designed from a sphere, cylinder, and cube, the play gifts of Friedrich Fröbel. It is believed that here Fröbel had the idea to further develop his care, play, and activity institution for toddlers, which he founded in 1837 in (Bad) Blankenburg, into the kindergarten.

The path then descends to Keilhau, a small place that today belongs to the town of Rudolstadt. In 1817, Fröbel relocated his "General German Educational Institution" founded in 1816 in Griesheim near Arnstadt here. Together with other important educators, he realized many of his ideas about the education and upbringing of children and young people here and published his main pedagogical work "The Education of Man" in 1826.

Today, after a varied history, the facility is run by JugendSozialwerk Nordhausen e.V. as a private "Free Fröbel School Keilhau" - a speech therapy center with a special education residential home. Not far from the speech therapy school complex is the historic cemetery of Keilhau, where the graves of Fröbel’s collaborators Barop, Langenthal, and Middendorf can be found.

After returning to the school, the path leads as a steep trail to the Bismarck Fire Column on the Kolmberg. This fire column, damaged in 1945, was financed by donations from the Association of former Keilhau residents and erected within just five months. It was inaugurated on July 30, 1899, on the first anniversary of Bismarck’s death.

Along a nature reserve, the path now leads back up to the Steiger, whose ridge is reached at the Barop Tower. The Barop Tower was built in 1878 by former students of the Keilhau institution to celebrate the 50th service anniversary of long-time director Johannes Arnod Barop. The key to this tower can be obtained at the school in Keilhau, and from the tower, you have a wide panoramic view over the peaks of the coniferous trees on the mountain across the entire Thuringian land and, in particularly clear weather, as far as the Brocken in the Harz.

The path now leads back to the Fröbel view, then continues along the ridge of the Steiger and the Kesselberg to the Kesselwarte, a shelter directly above Bad Blankenburg. From here, it descends back to the starting point in Bad Blankenburg.

Route:
Bad Blankenburg Marketplace - Fröbel Museum - Allianz Hall - Castle Path (ascent) - Meadow Path to Kleingölitz - Fröbel View (ascent - outlook) - Keilhau - Barop Tower - Fröbel View - Ridge Path to Kesselwarte - Youth Hostel - Bad Blankenburg

Marking:

The path from the town hall in Bad Blankenburg via the Fröbel View to the Fröbel School Keilhau and back to the Fröbel View is marked with Fröbel’s play gifts - sphere, cylinder, cube in red color. On the ridge of Steiger and Kesselberg to the Kesselwarte, it follows the red horizontal bar on a white background, and from the Kesselwarte descending, the red dot on a white background leads to the city center of Bad Blankenburg. Via the Untere Marktstraße, the town hall of Bad Blankenburg is reached again.

You can conveniently reach Bad Blankenburg by train from Erfurt and Jena (via Saalfeld / Rudolstadt). Use the German Rail travel portal with destination station "Bad Blankenburg (Thüringerw)" for trip planning

When in spring and autumn the sun illuminates the landscape and nature in special colors, hiking in Fröbel’s footsteps is especially enjoyable. Whether orchid or silver thistle - botanically these seasons have an incredible amount to offer.

At Greifenstein Castle there is a falconry - an absolute highlight right at the beginning of the hike