Take a breath between the city and the lakes
There are moments when the air is more than just a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen—it becomes an experience. Anyone who has ever stood in front of a graduation tower in Berlin or Brandenburg knows this moment: a subtle taste of salt on the lips, a cool breeze caressing the skin, a breath that becomes deeper and freer. In the heart of the capital region, surrounded by streets, lakes, and forests, places have been preserved that evoke a sense of the sea, without having to travel for hours to get there.
Graduation towers in Bad Wilsnack, Brandenburg an der Havel, the Spreewald, and modern salt air oases in the heart of Berlin are more than just tourist destinations. They are silent witnesses to a centuries-old salt history – built to extract salt, but today primarily visited to breathe, pause, and stay healthy. People come here to leave everyday life behind for an hour and discover a sense of balance in the salt mist.
But every trip also involves effort: travel time, entrance fees, and sometimes entire afternoons that you have to free up. Anyone who regularly seeks salt air quickly realizes that the visits add up – not only in terms of time, but also financially. This is why many are increasingly considering incorporating the experience into their daily lives. But before we look there, let's take a trip to the graduation towers and salt air oases in Berlin-Brandenburg, which demonstrate how diverse the culture of salt is also rooted here.
In Berlin: Salzperle Weißensee - Natural salt room with graduation tower
Hidden in the heart of Berlin-Weißensee, a quiet district in the northeast of the city, lies the Salzperle – one of Berlin's smallest, family-run salt and float lounges. Spanning almost 100 square meters, this wellness oasis offers a natural salt room with a real graduation tower and ultrasonic saline nebulization – a rarity in the capital.
The graduation tower in the natural salt room is a wooden structure filled with bundles of brushwood, over which saline water trickles. The water evaporates, the salt concentration increases, and the brine droplets are dispersed finely in the air. This is complemented by ultrasonic brine nebulization, which creates additional fine salt aerosols. The result: a dense, saline atmosphere that is particularly beneficial for the respiratory tract, which is moisturized and cleansed.
The Salt Pearl is deliberately small and intimate. There's a single floating room with a large pool, which can be booked privately for one or two people. The floating experience—floating in body-warm saline water—combined with the natural salt room creates holistic relaxation for body and mind.
In addition, the Salzperle offers a wide range of massages, from classic aromatherapy massages to hot stone and Balinese full-body massages. A cozy relaxation lounge invites you to relax and unwind. The Salzperle is an insider tip for Berliners who want to enjoy the salt air in the heart of the city – away from mass tourism, but with personalized attention.
Important: Due to the intimate size, advance reservations are recommended. The Salzperle demonstrates that salt air experiences are possible even in a big city – authentic, high-quality, and with a real graduation tower.
Bad Wilsnack - Salt air in the Prignitz
Bad Wilsnack is located about 110 kilometers northwest of Berlin in the sparsely populated Prignitz region. The town is known far beyond the region for its thermal brine, but in the middle of the spa gardens stands a graduation tower, one of the most impressive in the region. The dark blackthorn wall traverses the park like a silent structure from another era.
As the brine trickles over the brushwood branches, a fine salty mist settles over the surroundings, making the air noticeably denser. Visitors report that their first breaths feel like a quick dip in the sea – refreshing, liberating, almost meditative. Especially in the early morning hours, the graduation tower unfolds a special atmosphere: It's not just a place for the respiratory system, but also a place where thoughts can calm down.
Bad Wilsnack has a long history as a place of pilgrimage and spa town. The thermal brine is extracted from great depths and is particularly rich in minerals. In addition to the graduation tower, the modern KristallTherme thermal spa attracts visitors with various thermal pools, saunas, and wellness offerings. Many visitors combine their stay at the open-air graduation tower with a bath in the thermal baths, creating a holistic health experience.
For Berliners, Bad Wilsnack is a popular weekend getaway destination. The journey takes about an hour and a half by car. The graduation tower is freely accessible and operates year-round—an important feature for anyone who wants to enjoy salt air regularly.
Landhotel Burg in the Spreewald - Breathe naturally with Burger Sole
About 100 kilometers southeast of Berlin, in the heart of the UNESCO Spreewald Biosphere Reserve, the Landhotel Burg invites you to take a breather. Here, where streams meander through the landscape and nature sets the pace, stands the region's newest graduation tower – an oasis of tranquility amidst water channels and floodplain forests.
The graduation tower at Landhotel Burg enriches the Spreewald air with a fine brine mist – like a fresh sea breeze amidst nature. The Burg brine used is sourced locally and is piped over the characteristic blackthorn walls. As the saline water trickles over the brushwood bundles and evaporates, a fine mist forms that settles over the surroundings like an invisible blanket.
The effects are soothing and multifaceted: The salty air can clear the respiratory tract, moisten the mucous membranes, and support the immune system. Even a quiet walk or a stay of about 15 minutes a day is enough to experience the positive effects. The combination of the Spreewald's natural surroundings and the salty air creates a special atmosphere – a short break for health and well-being.
The Landhotel Burg itself is an established wellness hotel with a long tradition in the Spreewald region. In addition to the graduation tower, it offers a comprehensive wellness area with a swimming pool, saunas, and beauty treatments. Many guests combine their stay at the graduation tower with a boat trip through the rivers or a walk through the unique cultural landscape of the Spreewald.
For Berliners, Burg is easily accessible: about an hour by car via the A13 or by train to Cottbus, followed by a transfer. The graduation tower is open to hotel guests and day visitors and fits harmoniously into the hotel's wellness philosophy – a perfect balance of nature, tradition, and modern healthcare.
Fontane Therme Neuruppin - Graduation Tower at Lake Ruppin
About 80 kilometers northwest of Berlin, directly on Lake Ruppin, lies the Fontane Therme in the Mark Brandenburg resort. This modern thermal spa complex features an indoor graduation tower for inhalation, integrated into the spacious wellness area. Unlike open-air graduation towers, this is a weather-protected solution available year-round.
The graduation tower works on the same principle: a wooden frame with bundles of brushwood, over which saline brine trickles and evaporates. The fine salt aerosols enrich the air and have a soothing effect on the respiratory system. The advantage: You can inhale here regardless of the weather or season—in winter at pleasant indoor temperatures, in summer as a complement to the outdoor pools.
The Fontane Therme itself is a highlight: natural healing brine outdoor pools with certified healing water from its own spring, a brine floating pool, the floating lake sauna on Lake Ruppin, and a diverse sauna landscape. The graduation tower fits perfectly into this concept—as an additional element for respiratory health and relaxation.
For Berliners, Neuruppin is easily accessible: about an hour's drive by car or by train (RE6). The combination of lake, thermal baths, and graduation tower makes the Fontane Therme a popular destination for weekend getaways. The graduation tower can be used with all thermal bath tickets and is especially appreciated by people with respiratory illnesses.
In Berlin: Salt room offers in the capital
In addition to the Salzperle in Weißensee, there are other specialized facilities in Berlin that offer salt air therapy. These salt rooms and salt grottos are usually smaller and more concentrated than the large open-air graduation towers, but precisely for this reason, they offer such intensive effects.
In enclosed rooms, whose walls are lined with salt and where mini-graduation towers or saline nebulizers enrich the air, a highly concentrated saline atmosphere is created. A session usually lasts 45-60 minutes and can be used specifically for respiratory diseases, allergies, or skin problems.
Such facilities can be found throughout the city—from Charlottenburg to Prenzlauer Berg to Köpenick. They cater to an urban audience who doesn't have time for long excursions but still wants to reap the health benefits of salt air.
The atmosphere is often designed to be relaxing: dim lighting, soft music, and comfortable loungers. While resting, you breathe in the salty air, which penetrates deep into the respiratory tract and exerts its soothing effects. For people with chronic respiratory diseases, such regular sessions can bring a noticeable improvement in quality of life.
Conclusion: Salt air between the capital and the spa gardens
The graduation towers and salt air oases in Berlin and Brandenburg demonstrate the diverse range of salt air experiences: in the historic setting of Bad Wilsnack, in the natural Spreewald landscape near Burg, in the urban area of Berlin with the Salzperle in Weißensee, or in the modern Fontane Therme on Lake Ruppin.
Each facility tells a story – of ancient salt production, of health traditions, and of the desire to preserve places of tranquility in everyday life. Bad Wilsnack combines pilgrimage history with modern spa culture, the Spreewald Forest harmoniously integrates salt air into the UNESCO cultural landscape, and the Salzperle (Salt Pearl) in Berlin proves that authentic salt air experiences with a real graduation tower are possible even in the heart of a big city.
The alternative for everyday life
This is precisely where many people begin to consider whether they could bring a piece of this experience into their own home. A mini-saltworks transfers the principle of the large graduation towers into the home in a compact form. It creates saline air regardless of location, season, or opening hours.
Compared to the costs of frequent visits to the spa gardens, such an investment often pays for itself in just a few months. With the above-calculated costs of approximately €50-100 per month (depending on frequency and purpose), this results in an annual cost of €600-1,200 – a sum that often justifies the purchase of a high-quality mini-salt plant in the first year.
Thus, the salt air remains not only a special experience in the spa gardens, in the Spreewald Forest, or at the Salzperle (Salt Pearl), but also becomes a daily companion for respiratory health, well-being, and inner balance. The graduation towers in Bad Wilsnack, Burg, and Neuruppin, as well as the Salzperle (Salt Pearl) in Berlin-Weißensee, remain special places for conscious time-outs—places that should be visited again and again to experience the power of the brine and the special atmosphere.
The local mini-saltworks, on the other hand, are a quiet companion in everyday life. It doesn't replace the experience of a visit to Bad Wilsnack or the charm of the Salzperle spa with its floating pool, but it does make the health benefits of salt air available every day—in the morning after waking up, in the evening before bed, or while working from home.
Historical tradition, natural Spreewald culture, urban salt air oases, and modern everyday solutions complement each other perfectly. The Berlin-Brandenburg graduation towers are cultural heritage and a tourist destination, the Salt Pearl is an urban wellness highlight, and the Mini Saltworks is a daily health care facility. Together, they form a concept that combines past and present, experience and routine, special moments and everyday care.
(Image sources: Adobe Stock)
