Albinmüller Tower

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Albinmüller Tower
Spire

The Albinmüller Tower is an observation tower in the Rotehorn Park in Magdeburg and is one of the city's landmarks . The observation tower shapes the skyline of Magdeburg and is located near the Elbe on the Elbe island Werder next to the Magdeburg city hall . With its elegance and functionality, the tower is an important example of the New Building of the 1920s.

history

The tower was built between 1926 and 1927 based on a design by the architect Albin Müller (called Albinmüller ) as part of the redesign of the area for the 1927 German Theater Exhibition in Magdeburg . The building represents one of the most important works by Albin Müller. The architecture of the tower takes up the ideas of glass and light architecture by Bruno Taut , who was temporarily active in Magdeburg . In the evening the glass spire is illuminated in color. The tower forms a vertical contrast to the Magdeburg city hall , which is located immediately next to it and which was built at the same time, and something like a campanile .

architecture

The slender tower rises on a square floor plan as a 60 meter high reinforced concrete structure , which is crowned by a 15 meter high glass and steel structure. The glass structure originally served as a restaurant. However, due to the small dimensions, an economical catering business was not possible. There is a viewing platform on the tower shaft. The glass attachment is moved laterally from the vertical central axis of the shaft in order to liven up the silhouette of the tower. At the southwest corner of the tower there are narrow pilaster strips and vertical slits of light between them. This element, which is also intended for nighttime lighting, extends over almost the entire length of the tower shaft.

A female relief figure at the top of the corner of the building completes this vertical window. The monumental figure created by Wilhelm Deffke represents the Magdeburg virgin who is depicted on the Magdeburg coat of arms. As in the heraldic depiction, the maid wears a wreath in her raised right hand. The arrangement of the windows on the tower shaft is striking. Small rectangular windows in landscape format emphasize the corners of the tower.

The models for the design of the Albinmüller Tower are the Darmstadt wedding tower by Joseph Maria Olbrich and, with regard to the lantern, the Palais Stoclet in Brussels designed by Josef Hoffmann .

Recent events

The tower was renovated in the first decade of the 21st century. At the meeting on February 16, 2012, the city council of Magdeburg decided to name the tower, previously known as the Rotehornpark observation tower, as a homage to the architect.

With a unanimous vote, the Magdeburg City Council decided in April 2019 that the Albinmüller Tower should undergo a further and more extensive redesign after 2005. The culture committee requested u. a. a more attractive design of the entrance area for the visitors, the revitalization of the former tower café and the integration of the tower into the city tour route.

literature

  • Babette Gräfe: Albinmüller. Reform culture in the field of tension between tradition and modernity. In: Albinmüller: From my life. (Ed. By Norbert Eisold, Gerd Kley and Norbert Pohlmann.) Mauritius Verlag, Magdeburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-939884-05-7 , (On the architecture of the German theater exhibition and the observation tower, in particular p. 292ff.)
  • Babette Gräfe: Romanticism is the flywheel of my soul. The dream of an aesthetic alternative world in the architecture of Albinmüller. Justus von Liebig Verlag, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-87390-283-1 . (on the architecture of the German Theater Exhibition and on the observation tower, in particular page 209ff.)
  • State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt (Ed.): List of Monuments Saxony-Anhalt, Volume 14, State Capital Magdeburg. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-531-5 , page 285.

Web links

Commons : Albinmüller Tower  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Albinmüller Tower - History. In: mvgm.de , accessed on May 1, 2019.
  2. ↑ Katja Tessnow: Appreciation. Magdeburg Tower is to be redesigned. In: Volksstimme , April 25, 2019.

Coordinates: 52 ° 7 ′ 3.7 ″  N , 11 ° 38 ′ 27 ″  E