Wedding balloon from Berlin lands in Polish forest after 900 km flight

A balloon's 900-kilometre journey

Guests at a wedding in Berlin released a small red balloon into the sky, attaching a carefully protected slip of paper to its string. The note carried a simple message in German, "Alles Gute zur Hochzeit" (all the best for the wedding), along with a request that whoever found the balloon report the location of its discovery. Wind gusts carried the balloon eastward across Germany and into neighbouring Poland, a journey of nearly 900 kilometres, until it came to rest on a branch in the Bialowieza Primeval Forest. The forest lies near the Polish-Belarusian border, placing the balloon's final landing spot in the Olchówka forestry area within the Browsk Forest District.

Discovery in the forest

A forester from the Olchówka forestry station spotted the balloon during his daily patrol, caught on a branch of a tree in the Bialowieza Primeval Forest. He removed it from the tree and secured the find, noting the small piece of paper attached to the balloon's string. The Browsk Forest District, based in Gruszki, announced the discovery on its Facebook page on Friday, 14 August, posting a photograph of the small red balloon alongside the attached note. The post drew attention to the balloon's journey, which had crossed an international border before coming to rest in a protected woodland area.

“A small, carefully protected sheet of paper was attached to the string”

The message on the paper was written in German. It read "Alles Gute zur Hochzeit" and included a request for the finder to report where the balloon was discovered. The note also carried a return address, which allowed foresters to trace the balloon back to its senders in the German capital. It emerged that the balloon had been released by guests at a wedding in Berlin, who had no way of knowing how far the balloon would travel.

The return

After establishing the balloon's origin, the Browsk Forest District sent the card back to the return address provided by the senders. They included an invitation to visit the State Forests in the Bialowieza Primeval Forest, extending a welcome to the wedding guests who had launched the balloon from Berlin. The foresters described the balloon's journey in their Facebook post, noting that it had travelled from the German capital to the heart of the primeval forest.

“Wind gusts pushed it eastward. It covered nearly 900 kilometres, crossed the border and landed in the heart of our forest, settling safely on a branch”

A UNESCO heritage forest

The Bialowieza Primeval Forest is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site and is known as a habitat of European bison, also called wisents. The balloon's landing spot in the Olchówka forestry area lies within this protected woodland, which straddles the border between Poland and Belarus.