Bismarck Tower (Essen)
The Bismarck Tower in Essen is a 16.75 meter high pillar of fire in Essen 's Kray district , built in honor of the statesman Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898).
history
The initiative to build this pure pillar of fire came from Emil Kirdorf , chairman of the Bismarck Association of the Gelsenkirchen district, founded in 1896 . On December 28, 1898 a building commission was formed. It consisted of the general director Emil Kirdorf, the mine director Bürgel , the publishing bookseller Carl Besterling , the office manager Brenscheid , the building contractor Wilhelm Ecke , the building contractor Timmermann and the machine inspector Brauns .
construction
The architect Heinrich Tscharmann was commissioned by the Gelsenkirchen Bismarck Association to design the fire column. He had previously designed the Bismarck Tower in Keilhau in Thuringia . The Mechtenberg in Essen, with a height of 83 meters above sea level. NN , was selected as a highly visible location. Finally, the work was carried out by the contractor Timmermann from Gelsenkirchen under the direction of Wilhelm Ecke from Wattenscheid . The foundation stone was laid on April 1st, 1900, the inauguration of the tower on July 29th of the same year.
financing
The funding came from donations from the surrounding areas, such as Gelsenkirchen and Wattenscheid, Eickel , Schalke , Ückendorf , Wanne and the mayorries of Steele and Stoppenberg . The total costs of 32,000 marks consisted of the acquisition of the 88 square meter property (7,146.89 marks), the costs of the column (18,000 marks, including 1,600 marks for the copper fire bowl) and the costs for the green area and a guard's house.
The tower
The tower, made of basalt lava , was given the lettering BISMARCK on its front and back in gold-plated capital letters and a forged Bismarck coat of arms on its north side, which has not existed since the 1990s. The 1.8 meter diameter fire bowl on the top of the tower was operated by a pressure pump, which pumped thin benzene residues through a two millimeter thick pipe to a nozzle. This fire bowl and the keeper's house are no longer preserved today. On July 10, 1986, the Bismarck Tower was entered as an architectural monument in the city of Essen's list of monuments.
The former 99 meter high Mechtenberg lost height before the tower was built due to subsidence . Today it is part of the Mechtenberg Landscape Park , which in turn is part of theme route 24 of the Route of Industrial Culture . The Catholic parish of the Assumption of Mary in Gelsenkirchen-Rotthausen organizes a Way of the Cross to the Bismarck Tower in Essen-Kray once a year on Good Friday from the Düppel Church.
Web links
- Entry on the Bismarck Tower on the Mechtenberg in the " KuLaDig " database of the Rhineland Regional Council
- The Bismarck Tower in Essen at the Bismarck Tower information portal
- Extract from the list of monuments of the city of Essen
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.propstei-ge.de/st-mariae-himmelfahrt/aktuelles/vollstaendiger-beitrag/news/kreuzweg-zum-mechtenberg-1/
Coordinates: 51 ° 28 '46.49 " N , 7 ° 5' 18.53" E