The best walks and hikes around Szczecin

A gravel road leads this way on the causeway.

Swimming is prohibited, but everyone swims anyway.

Wild beach on Lake Głębokie

Somewhat hidden in the forest and off the path are the ruins of the former Toepffer family palace. A staircase, the remains of columns, and a few other relics are still there, giving an idea of the size of the property. The building likely had a very high standard of furnishings for its time.

An easily accessible vantage point offering a wonderful panoramic view of Szczecin. The open area in front of the vantage point also offers numerous seating areas and barbecue facilities.

Cement was already known to the ancient Romans, but it was later abandoned in construction for hundreds of years. It wasn't until the 19th century that the Englishman Joseph Aspdin reinvented it, patenting a method for producing Portland cement (its color resembled the limestone rocks of the Isle of Portland in Great Britain) in 1824. Less than forty years later, Szczecin was already one of the largest centers of the cement industry in Germany. Gustav Adolf Toepffer was largely responsible for this. He initially sought his chance to make a fortune by opening a fashion store, investing in a coconut mat factory, and breeding silkworms. However, his greatest success and fame came from the Portland cement factory "Stern," which he founded in 1862 with Heinrich Grawitz (his brother-in-law) in Zdroje. A major advantage was the convenient location of the cement plant. It was built on the site between today's ul. Batalionów Chłopskich (Champions' Battalions) and the banks of the Regalica River, near Kopalniana and Grabowa Streets. Close to the deposits of chalk, limestone, and clay mined on the slopes of the Bukowa Forest. Mine output (the most famous being the flooded chalk mine pit, the Emerald Lake) was transported to the cement plant in cable cars. Some elements of this infrastructure survive to this day (including a tunnel and a bridge). Access to the river (the factory was connected to the Regalica by a canal) guaranteed good transport conditions for the finished product, as well as the receipt of supplies from the island of Rügen (when local raw materials were slowly depleting). All this, and above all, the high quality of the award-winning product, led to the factory's rapid expansion. After the founder's death, his son, Albert Eduard Toepffer, took over management of the factory. He expanded production to include paving slabs and roof tiles. Today, he would also be called a marketing expert. He demonstrated the potential of the materials produced by "Stern" to potential buyers by building an artificial grotto in 1880 (it still exists today) and two concrete arches (one survives), upon which a Far Eastern-style music pavilion was erected. Today, almost no trace remains of the factory. After the war, it was dismantled to provide building materials for the reconstruction of Szczecin.

The building was built in 1906 on the hills of the Beech Forest near the Szczecin "Stern" cement factory. It was built by Helmut Toepffer, grandson of the founder of the Stern cement plant and the Katherinen Kreidegrub mine. Due to its location, the palace was nicknamed "Parkhaus." The residence had 30 rooms, not including utility rooms such as the kitchen and pantries. In addition to two master bedrooms and dressing rooms, the second floor contained nine guest rooms and bathrooms. The house also included a smoking room, a writing room for the ladies, a study, a winter garden, a billiards room, an East Asian-style room, and an extensive library with approximately 5,000 volumes. At the rear of the building, half of the hill was removed to accommodate an extension, which was intended to house the museum's art collection. The Renaissance Hall measured 8 meters high, 12 meters wide, and 24 meters long. The palace was brimming with art collections, and the interiors were crafted from luxurious materials. For example, the Asian room featured leopard skins, a statue of the Buddha on a lotus pedestal, and hand-painted, two-piece screens made of East Asian silk. In the dining room, the ceiling and walls were paneled with East Asian teak. The paneling featured copies of beautiful street scenes painted by the famous Spaniard Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. The large dining table, chairs, and sideboards were all made of the same wood. The palace's art collections include hundreds of volumes (often rare, long-standing, or leather-covered), and a marble copy of Michelangelo's "Moses" statue. The entire complex survived the air raids on Szczecin intact, but was looted and devastated by Russian troops. In later years, it continued to deteriorate, undeveloped and dismantled by "collectors" of building materials and timber. Today, the only remains are the Stairs leading to the Renaissance Hall where the statue of Moses stood, and scattered elements of the palace's concrete columns, as well as fragments of cornices with carved architectural details.

A former chalk and marl mine operated by the nearby "Stern" Portland cement factory, founded in 1862 and owned by the Toepffer family. In 1925, a sudden flood of groundwater through a layer of permeable sand led to the quarry's opening. The quarry quickly filled with water. People were immediately evacuated. The quarry was flooded. Emerald Lake was created, which owes its color and name to the high calcium carbonate content in the water and the reflection of light from the chalk bed. In good weather, railway wagons and even workers' tools can still be seen at the bottom of the lake. A concrete bridge, part of the railway track used to transport chalk output to the nearby cement plant, still stands near the lake today.