Bismarck Tower (Erfurt)
The Bismarck Tower is a lookout tower on Am Tannenwäldchen in the Steigerwald on the southern edge of Erfurt .
The tower is 22 meters high, provides a good view of the city and is designed according to the "Götterdämmerung" design by Wilhelm Kreis . Identical Bismarck towers in honor of Otto von Bismarck can therefore be found in numerous other cities.
On March 23, 1900, a Bismarck column association was founded in Erfurt, which subsequently collected donations so that a Bismarck tower could also be built in Erfurt. The willingness to donate for the observation tower in the Steigerwald was great and so the tower was opened on September 1st, 1901. However, in contrast to most other cities, there is also a personal connection between Bismarck and the tower in Erfurt. In 1850 he took part in the Erfurt Union Parliament and therefore stayed in the city, where he wandered through the Steigerwald.
During the GDR era, the tower was retained as a lookout tower in the city forest due to its favorable location and was renamed the Peace Tower . However, it was left to decay and was no longer accessible during the later GDR era. In 1999 the Bismarck Tower Association 1900 eV was founded, which successfully takes care of the security, renovation and maintenance of the tower and its surroundings. The tower is in a desolate condition, locked and not accessible.
literature
- Steffen Raßloff : Bismarck and Erfurt. From conservative Union parliamentarian to national symbolic figure. In: Greiling, Werner / Hans, Hans-Werner: Bismarck in Thuringia. Politics and culture of remembrance from a small-state perspective. Weimar / Jena 2003. pp. 115-133.
- Steffen Raßloff: Bismarck Tower in the Steiger honors a national symbol. In: Thüringer Allgemeine from October 8, 2011. ( online )
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 57 ′ 1.7 ″ N , 11 ° 2 ′ 24.6 ″ E