Bismarck Tower (Remscheid)
The Bismarck Tower Remscheid is a 30 m high tower in the city of Remscheid in North Rhine-Westphalia that is now used as an observatory . It was built as a lookout tower in 1901 on the edge of the city park. During the Second World War, it served as an air raid reporting station. After the renovation of the upper floor, it now houses the Dr. Hans Schäfer Observatory Remscheid of the Remscheid Adult Education Center .
Observation tower
On December 2nd, 1896, while Otto von Bismarck was still alive , Walther Cleff from the board of directors of the Remscheid Beautification Association suggested the construction of this Bismarck tower . The highest point of the municipal facilities (today: Stadtpark) came into question as the location, as this property was owned by the association.
To realize this plan, an architectural competition was held for all German architects as early as 1897 . 195 designs were submitted for judging. The first prize (in the amount of 300 marks ) went to the design with the key word “Dem Reichsschmied”, whose authors were the architects Friedrich Pützer and Hermann Jansen , because of its - according to the jury - “a solution worthy of recognition in every respect” . For reasons of cost, the design had to be simplified prior to construction. The construction business Gustav Brüning in Remscheid was ultimately commissioned with the construction work .
The construction costs amounted to 43,000 marks, of which 33,000 marks were covered by donations. The remaining costs were taken over by the city of Remscheid - on condition that the completed tower became the property of the city. The tower was built from Ruhr sandstone ( bay windows , cornices , coats of arms, galleries and window frames) and Grauwacke , which was extracted from a neighboring quarry.
The lavishly designed tower impresses with the large arched portal in neo-Romanesque style with the Bismarck relief. A bronze eagle was attached to the formerly pyramid-shaped roof. The pitch was fired in two large iron campfires that were placed on the doors of the semicircular wall ( pergola ) flanking on both sides .
A Bismarck relief was placed above the entrance, to the right of it a coat of arms of the city of Remscheid - both made by the sculptor Johann Müller in Aachen.
Observatory
After the tower roof was badly damaged in the Second World War, interested parties around the physics teacher Hans Schäfer came together to form an astronomical working group. The program consisted of lectures and observations through mobile telescopes. It quickly became clear that Remscheid was lacking a real observatory. After negotiations with the city, the war-damaged Bismarck tower in the city park was selected. The renovation work, during which the roof fragment was replaced by a structure with a dome, lasted from 1963 to 1968.
The public observatory was opened on October 3, 1968 .
On November 20, 1984 the Bismarck Tower was entered in the list of monuments of the city of Remscheid.
The building was renovated again between 1986 and 1989 (including the stairs). Since 1986 it has been named as Dr.-Hans-Schäfer-Sternwarte Remscheid by a resolution of the city council after its long-time advocate and sponsor . In 2000 the 100th anniversary of the tower took place. Another extensive renovation took place between 2005 and 2007. The plaster was chipped in the entire stairwell in order to leave the masonry, which mainly consists of rubble stones, as exposed masonry. A vaulted corridor and two niches were uncovered that had apparently been bricked up when the tower was converted into an observatory in the 1960s. In the upper part of the stairwell, glass blocks were replaced by ventilation grids. Overall, the stairwell, which was previously plagued by moisture, is now better ventilated and is significantly drier.
Web links
- Description as Monument of the Month November 2011 on the website of the City of Remscheid
- Description on baukunst-nrw.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bismarckturm Remscheid at www.bismarcktuerme.de , accessed on January 18, 2016
- ↑ www.sternwarte-remscheid.de
Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 3.8 ″ N , 7 ° 10 ′ 3.1 ″ E