Great Feldberg observation tower
The Großer Feldberg observation tower is a 40 m high observation tower on the Großer Feldberg in the Taunus ( Hochtaunus ). It is near Ober- and Niederreifenberg in the municipality of Schmitten in the Hessian Hochtaunuskreis . It is surrounded by three masts, some of which are significantly higher, for the transmitter systems on the Großer Feldberg .
Geographical location and accessibility
The observation tower stands on the forest-free plateau of the Großer Feldberg ( 879 m above sea level ), the highest mountain in the Taunus and in the Feldberg- Taunus ridge . It is located 4.3 km south-southeast of the center of Schmitten, 2.5 km east-south-east of Niederreifenberg and 2.5 km southeast of Oberreifenberg , two districts of Schmitten, and 5.4 km north of the center of Königstein im Taunus .
The tower can be reached from the mountain passes Rotes Kreuz ( 688 m ) and Sandplacken ( 669 m ) via the winding state road 3024, which leads past the mountain plateau. Bus 57 has a stop near the base of the tower.
description
The observation tower can be entered for a fee. It has an internal staircase which leads to a viewing platform behind the windows. Its appearance contributes to the striking mountain silhouette. Since the inauguration of the tower, there has been a youth and hiking home of the Taunus Club at the foot of the tower , which offers lounge and seminar rooms as well as overnight accommodation as well as a kiosk .
history
chronology
In the 19th century, the Große Feldberg developed into a popular excursion destination , especially for the Frankfurt population. Friedrich August Ravenstein (also called "Frankfurter Turnvater") founded the commission for the construction of a house on the Feldberg , which pursued the goal of building a youth and hiking home as well as a lookout tower for day trippers and hikers. In 1868, one of the first German hiking clubs, today's Taunus Club , was founded in the Feldberghaus under the name Bund der Feldbergäufer . In Germany, the migration movement was institutionalized at this time .
The foundation stone for the tower was laid in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II on July 7, 1901 and the inauguration on October 12, 1902. The original document for laying the foundation stone on cardboard is kept in the district archive in Bad Homburg in front of the height . The construction costs of 100,000 marks were raised through donations. The tower originally had an imperial eagle almost three meters high on its roof. In the 1930s, the eagle was replaced by a lighthouse-like light that served as a guide for aircraft.
On December 2, 1943, in thick fog, a German military plane rammed the Feldberg tower on its way from Erfurt to Frankfurt am Main. The escaping fuel ignited the wooden paneling of the tower, which burned out completely. Eleven people lost their lives in this accident. Sofie Müller's grave slab, which has been attached to the tower since 2017, commemorates the accident. Sofie Müller, the wife of the tower keeper at the time, was one of the eleven fatalities and was buried in a grave of honor in the old cemetery in Niederreifenberg. After the last graves were dissolved in 2017, their grave slab was placed at the place where they died.
In 1949 the observation tower - with the antenna carrier for the VHF frequency of the Hessischer Rundfunk on its top - was rebuilt. This made it part of the transmission systems on the Großer Feldberg. The antenna carrier is now a reserve system.
Opportunities for viewing
In good visibility conditions, the panoramic view extends from the viewing platform over the whole Taunus with the Taunushauptkamm , the Hintertaunus and Vordertaunus .
When the visibility is very good , the Odenwald and Spessart can be seen to the south and southwest, over the skyline of Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main area . In addition, you can see the North Palatinate Uplands with the Donnersberg , Palatinate Forest and the northern Vosges . In the north the view extends to the Westerwald and in the east to the Vogelsberg . To the west you can see the Hunsrück with the Soonwald , further north-west the Eifel . With excellent visibility, the Rhön can be seen further east .
literature
- Eugen Ernst: The Taunus: A l (i) worthwhile low mountain range . Societäts Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-7973-1146-7 .
- Stefan Etzel: Hiking in the Taunus . Dumont, Cologne 2002, ISBN 3-7701-5248-4 .
- Stefan Jung: Hiking in the Hochtaunus Nature Park . Societäts Verlag, Frankfurt 2009, ISBN 978-3-7973-1136-8 .
- Alexander Stahr, Birgit Bender: The Taunus - A journey through time . E. Schweizbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-510-65224-2 .
- Horst Wagner: The observation tower on the Great Feldberg in the Taunus . Taunusklub Stammklub founded in 1868 e. V., Frankfurt am Main 2002, DNB 965828352 .
Web links
- Taunusklub Stammklub founded in 1868 e. V. - taunusklub-stammklub.de
- Great Feldberg observation tower. In: Structurae
References and comments
- ↑ Line timetables according to lines, valid from 10.12.2017. In: verkehrsverband-hochtaunus.de. VHT , accessed on March 28, 2018 (line 57 and others).
- ↑ Großer Feldberg - Schmitten im Taunus , on taunus.info
- ↑ Hochtaunuskreis district archive; Peter Maresch, Hochtaunuskreis, Department of Culture, Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1–5, 61352 Bad Homburg v. d. H.
- ↑ Information on the Großer Feldberg observation tower in: Großer Feldberg (Taunus Relais Group) , on trg-radio.de
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↑
Angelika Baeumerth, Matthias Kliem, Alexander Wächtershäuser: The century in the Taunus. Societäts-Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-7973-0731-4 , p. 144
Horst Wagner: The observation tower on the Great Feldberg in the Taunus . Taunusklub Stammklub founded in 1868 e. V., Frankfurt a. M. 2002, DNB 965828352 , p. 13 - ↑ Dorit Lohrmann: Grave plate commemorates victims of the plane crash and the hiking home is being pimped up In: Taunuszeitung, October 9, 2017, p. 7.
- ^ Helmut Bode (editor): The Feldberg book. Waldemar Kramer Verlag, 1992, ISBN 3-7829-0303-X
Coordinates: 50 ° 13 ′ 55.4 ″ N , 8 ° 27 ′ 29.1 ″ E