Tree House Hotels Grow Popular in Germany

A tree house and bridge at the Hambach Forest activists' site. Photo: DPA
A tree house and bridge at the Hambach Forest activists' site. Photo: DPA
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Tree House Hotels Grow Popular in Germany

A tree house and bridge at the Hambach Forest activists' site. Photo: DPA
A tree house and bridge at the Hambach Forest activists' site. Photo: DPA

From amazing landscapes to soothing animal sounds and rustling tree leaves…spending the night in a treehouse can be a unique experience.

There are many warn, charming tree houses in Germany, mostly in the Eastern states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thüringen. Some are equipped with floor heating, flat-screen TVs, and spaces that are similar to living rooms.

If you are an adventurer, you might find some tree houses with a wild touch, featuring watering cans hanged on the trees, moving with the breeze.

The treehouse hotel Kriebelland in Saxony offers five different options and all of them are unique.

For instance, there is a three-story "romantic" getaway with spiral stairs, decorated with traditional watering cans and rope ladders. But the most unusual option is a treehouse hanged between three 180-year-old beech trees, which will be replaced in 2021, said its owner who is currently looking for an alternative.

In Thüringen, you can visit the Endschütz farm where the "the luxurious adventure is not considered an adventure." Owner Susan Schmidt and her friends built the treehouse using only woods from her own wood store. She left the part facing the lake open so the visitors can enjoy the sounds of birds and water. She also equipped the house with a telescope instead of a television.

And if you chose to visit Saxony-Anhalt, you can stay at the egg-shaped tree-house, installed on stilts between the trees in Altjeßnitz, in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district.



Paris to Allow Swimming in Seine from July in Olympic Legacy

Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
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Paris to Allow Swimming in Seine from July in Olympic Legacy

Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Swimming in the Seine is seen as a key legacy of the Games. EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP

Remember the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics?

The fortnight of intense and memorable sporting competition against the background of iconic landmarks amid brilliant sunshine in the French capital, days that will never be forgotten.

And the constant uncertainty about whether the River Seine would be clean enough to allow the open water swimming and triathlon events to take place.

The organizers set the ambitious goal of staging those events in a river long seen as too polluted for swimming and, despite the occasional hitch when heavy rain increased pollution levels, pulled it off.

Now, fulfilling a key legacy promise from the Games, the Paris authorities this summer are to allow the public to swim from July 5 at three points in the Seine which is now deemed safe for a dip.

"It was an extraordinary moment (in 2024), but swimming during the Games was not an end in itself," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo told reporters.

"Making the Seine swimmable is first and foremost a response to the objective of adapting to climate change, but also of quality of life," she added.

Parisians and tourists alike will be able to take the plunge at bras Marie in the heart of the historic center, the Grenelle district in the west of Paris, as well as Bercy in the east.

Once a favorite pastime in Paris, swimming in the Seine had been off limits for a century until last year due to the pollution levels.

"This summer, Parisians and tourists will rediscover the joys of swimming in the Seine, a hundred years after it was banned," city hall said in a statement.

Swimming will be supervised and monitored, said Pierre Rabadan, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports. The city expects to welcome between 150 and 300 people at any given time at the three sites, which will close for the season at the end of August.

As on beaches, a system of flags -- green, yellow and red -- will make clear the safety of swimming according to the Seine's current and the quality of the water.

The water quality will be closely watched, after high levels of bacteria forced the postponement of some of the competitions on certain days during the Olympics.

Checks will be carried out daily, and swimming may be suspended in the event of rain, said Marc Guillaume, the prefect, the top state-appointed official, of the Ile-de-France region that includes Paris.

He expressed "even more optimism" about water quality than last summer, given the work done on making the river cleaner.