Bismarck Tower (Iserlohn)
The Bismarck tower in Iserlohn is in honor of former German Chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck built Bismarck Memorial .
Geographical location
The tower is a landmark on the Seilerkuppe in the Seilerwald above the Seilersee at 338 m above sea level. NN . There is a height difference of around 130 m from the top of the dam on the Seilersee to the base of the tower. To the northeast of the tower is the Hemeraner district of Landhausen , to the northwest is the historic Maste-Barendorf factory .
history
In Iserlohn in 1911 thought was given to building a national monument. A first plan provided for a national monument on the Elisenhöhe near Bingerbrück . In the same year the Iserlohn citizen Karl Weydekamp, who was co-owner of an export trade, suggested the construction of a Bismarck tower in Iserlohn. In addition to the Seilerkuppe, the Tyrol and Mühlenberg were also discussed as locations. A local committee was formed that decided to found a Bismarck tower committee on April 1, 1913 for the Bismarck celebration. For the construction of the national memorial as an observation tower with a fire bowl, donations of 25,000 marks were collected from the citizens of Iserlohn alone within a very short time .
The committee had four building designs. The design by the architect August Deucker and the city architect Karl Hoffmann was selected.
At that time, the city of Iserlohn was not the owner of the property in the Seilerwald, on the area of the former municipality of Landhausen , on which the tower was to be built. A six- acre property on the Seilerkuppe was bought from the farmer Westhelle for 3,600 marks .
Before construction began, the best location was found with a wooden tower model on the Seilerkuppe.
The water required for the construction work came from a well drilled specially for the construction. The building material used was Grauwacke , which was quarried to the northwest of the tower below the Gut Magney quarry , now the Griesenbrauck quarry . Basalt lava was used for the outer walls of the fire bowl and the portal . Some building materials were approached from the Ostbahnhof and transported the last hundred meters to the construction site via an electric elevator. Because of the war, the sloping walls and parapets could not be covered with copper plates as planned. Instead, they were given a temporary cover made of zinc. The total costs for the construction of the memorial amounted to 28,000 marks.
During the first days of the war , the foundation stone was laid on September 6, 1914 . The inauguration of the tower took place on March 31, 1915. One day later, on Bismarck's 100th birthday, the fire was lit for the first time in the bowl in the tower head. Until the end of the war, the tower served as a location for the air watch.
During the Second World War , it was used by the German Wehrmacht from 1940 . After the war, the British military used it as a radio control center.
The population was only allowed to use the Bismarck Tower as a lookout tower from 1955. From 1957 to 1989 no more fires were lit in the tower head.
In 1975 the Sauerland / Paderborn law assigned the part of the Seilerwald with the Bismarck tower to Iserlohn.
In 1968 and 1991 necessary renovation measures were carried out. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Bismarck Tower in 1990, Mayor Fritz Fischer lit the fire in the now gas-powered bowl for the first time. Since the anniversary celebration, there has also been a memorial plaque on the tower.
Description of the tower
A rectangular plateau (13.80 m × 15.30 m) with a height of 1.80 m serves as the substructure of the tower. A three-stepped plinth serves as the base of the square tower with portal porch and stairs on the south side. The base of the tower is 7.50 m × 7.50 m (lower platform step). The second and third platform steps have a footprint of 7.30 m × 7.30 m and 7.10 m × 7.10 m, respectively. The viewing platform is 11 m high and can be reached via a stone staircase with 44 and a spiral staircase with 13 steps. The round fire basin above the viewing platform has a diameter of five meters. Overall, the tower is 14.5 m high.
Others
The Bismarck Tower is still owned by the city. From 1988 to 1995 there were regular opening times for viewing the monument. Today it is only possible to visit the interior and climb the tower after contacting the city of Iserlohn in advance. In addition, the building is opened on several Sundays between April and September by the action group Father Beda .
A special feature of the Bismarck Tower is that it has a photovoltaic system with eight modules on the roof to generate electricity. These modules supply a relay radio station for amateur radio and are not visible to visitors from below.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 23 ′ 41.2 ″ N , 7 ° 43 ′ 20 ″ E