Bodesruh Memorial and Observation Tower

The Bodesruh memorial was erected in 1963 in the municipality of Kleinensee in the district of Hersfeld-Rotenburg in East Hesse to commemorate the division of the region by the German-German border (until 1989).
The striking lookout tower is about one kilometer south-east of Hönebach and one kilometer south-west of Kleinensee not far from the Bodesruh hunting lodge on the access road to the potash dump Monte Kali, directly on the state border between Hesse and Thuringia.
From the viewing platform at a height of approx. 10.40 m, you have a view of the Hessian Kleinensee and the neighboring town of Großensee in Thuringia, to Monte Kali and in the Gerstung Basin to the Thuringian Forest.

Very nice view, excursion restaurant (Mon / Tue rest day)

The Bodesruh memorial was erected during the GDR era on Hessian territory, yet close to the border. It was primarily intended to commemorate the difficult situation of the town of Kleinensee, as this town was and is surrounded by Thuringia on three sides. The other side is bordered by the steep forest in which this memorial stands. While the people of Kleinensee were still able to reach the town fairly easily after the GDR was declared, the GDR was completely sealed off in 1952. There was no longer any access to Kleinensee! A forest road had to be built very quickly so that the town could still be accessed by vehicles.The memorial provides a view of precisely this difficult situation of the town, but is currently closed due to dilapidation.