Bismarck Tower (Landstuhl)
| Bismarck Tower | ||
|---|---|---|
 The Bismarck Tower |
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| Data | ||
| place | Landstuhl | |
| builder | District master builder Löhner | |
| architect | Wilhelm Circle | |
| Client | Carl Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg | |
| Architectural style | Sandstone block construction | |
| Construction year | 1899-1900 | |
| height | 19 m | |
| Coordinates | 49 ° 24 '44.4 " N , 7 ° 33' 41.9" E | |
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The Bismarck Tower in Landstuhl in the Kaiserslautern district in Rhineland-Palatinate was built in honor of the first German Chancellor, Prince Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898). The observation tower, designed according to a type design by the architect Wilhelm Kreis (1873–1955), is located immediately west of Landstuhl on the Kirchberg. It was donated by the mining industrialist Carl Ferdinand von Stumm-Halberg (1836–1901), is 19 meters high and was inaugurated in 1900.
history
Planning time
After Bismarck's death in 1898 there was a broad movement in the German Empire that erected monuments for the former Chancellor. One of his admirers was Carl Ferdinand Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg. He suggested building a Bismarck tower at Landstuhl at his own expense. Von Stumm-Halberg decided to have the Götterdämmerung design by the architect Wilhelm Kreis built on the Kirchberg west of Landstuhl .
In 1899, Kreis won a German student union competition with his design . According to an idea of the student body, a network of so-called pillars of fire should be set up throughout Germany in order to light large braziers on certain days in honor of Bismarck. The Bismarckian column from the Götterdämmerung model was built as a so-called type construction a total of 47 times in the German Empire until 1911 .
Construction and further development
In 1899 the foundation stone was laid for the Bismarck Tower and construction began. The construction work was not supervised by the architect Wilhelm Kreis himself, but by district master builder Löhner from Homburg . Red sandstone from the region was mainly used as building material . The tower could be completed quickly and inaugurated in 1900. The fire bowl on the tower was probably lit for the first time on the evening of the inauguration day. The total costs borne by the founder for the building amounted to a total of 27,000 marks , the large cast-iron fire bowl alone is said to have cost 500 marks.
The Bismarck Tower survived the following decades largely unscathed. After the Second World War , the building was no longer used as a so-called fire pillar, but only as a lookout tower - the fire bowl at its top was removed. Later the tower was fundamentally renovated, the stone steps at the base were renewed and railings were attached on both sides of the external stairs at the tower entrance . The Bismarck Tower is open at certain times.
architecture
The Bismarck Tower was built on a square floor plan. The tower itself is also square, but the massive effect is softened by three-quarter columns at the corners of the tower body. The walls are designed as a basement , which means that the stone blocks are only roughly carved (embossed) on their outside.
Podium and basement
The Bismarck Tower is divided into four parts: The lowest part is a two-tier, square platform that is around two meters high. At the front, in the middle of the two platform levels, a ten-step staircase leads to the entrance of the tower. On the pedestal stands the two and a half meter high base of the tower with the tower entrance.
Tower body and upper floor
The actual tower, around twelve meters high, rises above the basement. It is set back from the basement and rounded off at the corners by three-quarter columns. On the front with the tower entrance is a stone relief with an imperial eagle, which bears the Bismarck coat of arms on the chest. Above it is a bronze plaque with the following dedication text : "In memory of the great Chancellor, erected by KF Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg 1900" . Finally, in the upper part of the front of the basement there is a lattice window over two meters high . In addition, another stone relief with an imperial eagle and Bismarck's coat of arms is attached as a further decoration of the tower body.
Above the tower body follows the approximately three meter high upper floor, which consists of an architrave and a two-tier superstructure with the viewing platform . The upper floor is set back a little compared to the tower body.
Staircase and lighting
Inside the Bismarck Tower, a 74-step stone staircase leads to the viewing platform. The large cast iron fire bowl originally installed there had a diameter of 1.8 meters. It was fired with pine and beech wood , to which pitch and tow were added.
Others
The observatory of the amateur astronomer Philipp Fauth used to be located in the immediate vicinity of the Bismarck Tower on the Kirchberg .
See also
literature
- Günter Kloss, Sieglinde Seele: Bismarck Towers and Bismarck Columns. An inventory. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 1997, ISBN 3-932526-10-4 .
- Sieglinde Seele: Lexicon of the Bismarck Monuments. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2005, ISBN 3-86568-019-4 .
- Jörg Bielefeld, Alfred Büllesbach: Bismarck Towers. morisel Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 3-94391-508-5 .
