Bismarck Tower (Neugersdorf)
The 19.5 m high Bismarck tower in Neugersdorf is located on the top of the Hutungsberg , which is 474 m above sea level. NN highest point of Neugersdorf.
The construction of a lookout tower on Hutungsberg was planned as early as 1879/80. The Neugersdorf factory owner Julius Hoffmann and the "Natural Science Association of Neugersdorf" initiated the construction of the Neugersdorf Bismarck Tower in 1902. Julius Hoffmann donated 12,000 marks for this, with the total construction costs amounting to 20,000 marks.
The Bismarck Tower was designed as a lookout tower with a fire bowl by the master builder Hermann Mihan from Neugersdorf, who also took on the construction.
Building materials were weatherproof sandstone from the Waltersdorfer quarries, basalt stone for the foundation and brickwork for the interior cladding. The structure of the tower has a four-fold structure:
- a square substructure (with a square floor plan and an inner diameter of 2.8 m)
- a square shaft
- a round seated top
- an exit house on the platform with a round and firmly walled-in fire pan (1.45 m diameter, 0.45 m depth made of copper)
The platform ends with a parapet made of sandstone 1.05 m high.
The foundation stone was laid on April 6, 1904. After six months of construction, the sandstone tower was inaugurated on October 9, 1904. Prince Herbert von Bismarck sent a welcoming telegram about this. A Bismarck medallion, which has been missing since 1951, was attached to the entrance. Inside the tower, a plaque of honor made of Swedish granite with Bismarck's coat of arms and a dedication in gold for the founder Julius Hoffmann was attached:
- "Bismarck Tower, built from the foundation of Mr. Commerzienrat Julius Hoffmann from the Natural Science Association in 1904".
After the First World War , the building formerly known as the “Bismarck Tower” was renamed “Grenzturm” due to its location a few meters from the Czech border. After the Second World War then again in "Tower of Youth". A wooden signpost showed the way to the tower u. a. with the words:
- "Stop! Wanderer stop! A Bismarck tower! ”.
In 1938, an order said that the fire bowl on the tower had to burn for 10 hours after dark. After 1945 the tower in need of renovation had to be closed to visitors. From July 1992 the tower was extensively restored and reopened as the Bismarck Tower on September 12, 1993 for the "Open Monument Day", where more than 1,000 visitors climbed the tower again. In the course of the renovation, a new Bismarck medallion was installed above the entrance.
At the beginning of 2004, the Neugersdorfer Museumsverein eV ceded the maintenance of the tower and its opening. In October 2004 the Bismarck Tower celebrated its 100th anniversary, which was celebrated on September 4th, 2004. The tower has been closed since the 2013 season and is only open on special occasions.
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Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 10.8 " N , 14 ° 35 ′ 51.3" E