Bismarck Tower (Aumühle)
| Bismarck tower Aumühle | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Data | |
| Construction year: | 1898-1899 |
| Architect: | Hermann Schomburgk |
| Tower height: | 27 m |
| Container type: |
 |
| Volume of the container: | 90 m³ |
| Shutdown: | 1985/1986 |
| Original use: | Reserve for water supply, keeping the water pressure constant |
| Todays use: | Community library |
The Bismarck Tower in Aumühle is one of the numerous towers that were erected at the end of the 19th century throughout Germany and in dependent areas to commemorate Chancellor Otto von Bismarck .
history
On the initiative of Emil Specht, an admirer of Bismarck and owner of the villa colony Sachsenwald-Hofriede, the Bismarck Tower in Aumühle was built on a hill from 1898–1899 according to plans by the Hamburg architect Hermann Schomburgk. The construction costs were 45,000 marks . Including the four meter high dome, the tower is 27 m high and has a circumference of 28 m at the base.
The tower is made of plastered masonry, which is supposed to simulate a construction of cuboids. The viewing platform, which has space for around 60 people, can be reached via a cast-iron spiral staircase inside the tower.
The tower was inaugurated on July 12, 1901. A spotlight on the tower hood was switched on for Bismarck's birthday on April 1st and for the solstice celebration on June 21st until 1917.
use
The tower was designed as a water and observation tower from the start . A Bismarck Museum was set up on the third floor below the water tank and a Bismarck library on the second floor. The tower was open from 6 a.m. until dark. In order to enable the acquisition of further exhibits, an entrance fee of 20 pfennigs was charged.
Since 1922 the community has rented the tower for 100 marks a year for use by the water and electricity works. In 1927 - two years after Specht's death - she acquired the tower from his estate. Since the community did not have the financial means to purchase the exhibits and the library as well, they were sold to the new Bismarck Museum and Auer Verlag in Hamburg, and the tower was no longer open to the public. The tower keeper's house was sold twenty years later.
After 1927 the tower was used as a storage room by the community and a tropical fruit trade. The community library has been on the ground floor and first floor of the tower since 1963, and in 1967 a community archive was set up on the third floor. The 75th anniversary of the tower was celebrated with a big party in 1976.
Since the extensive renovation in 1987, which cost 1.2 million DM , the archive has been located in the upper part of the tower instead of the water container, but also uses other rooms for exhibitions. The library was also given an additional floor.
A cellular antenna system has been installed in the flagpole on the tower since 1998 and is operated jointly by all cellular providers. The following year the tower was placed under a preservation order.
Design of the interiors
The interior was decorated with wall paintings, which are only partially preserved. On the first floor, the names of the 312 cities in which Bismarck was an honorary citizen were painted on the walls, 70 of them were represented by a coat of arms. A coat of arms with the imperial eagle, which was decorated with gold leaf, was particularly elaborate. In this room there was a bust of Bismarck that the Chancellor had received from Hamburg shipowners on his 80th birthday.
On the second floor there is a cornice , up to the height of which the room was paneled . Above this, a stylized curtain was painted as a stencil painting , which today is only preserved in fragments. Bismarck memorabilia were exhibited here in showcases.
The third floor was also provided with wall paintings, which were decorated with quotations from Bismarck. Pictures of the Reich Chancellor were exhibited here.
Specially made furniture was provided with Bismarck's coat of arms.
The wall paintings were only rediscovered after long use as a storage room when Schleswag (today E.ON Hanse ) took over the supply of the city and the now damaged water tank was removed. The archive has been in its place since 1987.
See also
literature
- Otto Prueß: Aumühle. History about Aumühle, Friedrichsruh and the Sachsenwald. Kurt Viebranz Verlag, Schwarzenbek 2002, ISBN 3-921595-31-2 .
- Jens U. Schmidt: Water towers in Schleswig-Holstein. History and stories about the water supply in the north and its most striking buildings. Regia-Verlag, Cottbus 2008, ISBN 978-3-939656-71-5 .
Web links
- Bismarckturm Aumühle at www.bismarcktuerme.de
Coordinates: 53 ° 31 '23.1 " N , 10 ° 18' 38.9" E