Bismarck Tower (Viersen)

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The Viersener Bismarck Tower

The Bismarck Tower in Viersen is a tower erected as a Bismarck monument and one of the city's landmarks.

Geographical location

The Bismarck Tower is in the northwest of Alt-Viersen in the forest area "Hoher Busch"; it is located on Wilhelmshöhe, the highest point in Viersen at 84.94 meters above sea ​​level . At the time of construction one had a wide view of the Niers lowland from here . Today this view is blocked by tall trees.

Building history and architecture

At an emperor's birthday party in 1899 , patriotic citizens of Viersen suggested the building, founded a committee and wrote an appeal for donations, which the then mayor Peter Stern followed. 104 citizens donated the building sum of around 36,000 marks. But the project also had opponents: In a speech to Catholics, Pastor Lorenz Richen from Viersen said that from a religious and patriotic point of view, Bismarck should not be honored in this way, which meant that he was subsequently suspended from his position as official school inspector .

Preparatory work began as early as 1900. Numerous Bismarck towers were erected at that time according to a “ Götterdämmerung ” design created by the Dresden architect Wilhelm Kreis and awarded by the “Deutsche Studentenschaft” . For Viersen, Wilhelm Kreis created a slimmer form of his design with an attached fire bowl. The material used was greywacke from the Wiehl valley , which was processed into blocks.

Several thousand people took part in the laying of the foundation stone ; the tower (usually called "Bismarck's Column") was completed in June 1901. It has a height of 18.22 meters. At the inauguration, the first lighting took place in the evening, and until the time of the First World War the tower was lit annually on Bismarck's birthday (burn time: about two hours, flame height about 4 to 5 meters).

In the substructure, which consists of three pedestals that decrease in size towards the top , 12 steps worked into it lead to the iron entrance door. Four pillars with a diameter of 1.80 m are located on the corners of the base; these are connected to the wall in such a way that three quarters of their curves are visible from the outside. An architrave rises above it with a sweeping cornice . The Düsseldorf architect Josef Kleesattel designed the door on the west side with a colored Bismarck coat of arms and the Bismarck motto "In trinitate robur" ("In the trinity lies the power") and the Berlin sculptor Arnold Künne created a bronze relief for the east side. Inside the tower, a steep iron staircase with 60 steps leads to the viewing platform.

At the end of the 1970s, access was closed for insurance reasons; renovation was unavoidable. For cost reasons, this could only be carried out in 2001 as part of the EUROGA , 370,000 DM were raised by the city of Viersen and the city savings bank as well as a state grant. Among other things, the joints, the cement mortar of which crumbled, were replaced by Trass mortar, which causes relatively little efflorescence on natural stone.

Todays use

The tower has been a listed building for scientific, artistic and historical reasons since 1990; Conservation and use must take this into account. After the renovation, the building was reopened in 2003. The interim supervision and opening of the tower by radio amateurs from Viersen is currently (2015) suspended, a tower ascent is permanently closed due to damage. The Association for Home Care eV Viersen is planning to renovate the tower and make it accessible again (as of October 2017).

literature

  • Advanced course history 2005 of the municipal high school in Dülken under the direction of Gunnar Schirrmacher: Bismarck column on the Hohen Busch near Viersen. History and meaning . 6-page leaflet on the Bismarck Tower in Viersen, written by students of the advanced course in history. Ed .: City of Viersen, Beautification Association and Association for Home Care. Viersen 2005.
  • Fritz Eisheuer u. a .: Business card Bismarck Tower . In: 100 Years of the Viersen Beautification Association. Viersen n.d. (1986).
  • Memories of the Bismarck Column in Viersen . Viersen 1901.
  • Viersen's buildings from old and new times. In: Viersen, Dülken, Süchteln. (= Germany's urban development .) DARI, Berlin-Halensee 1930.
  • Gunnar Schirrmacher: The Bismarck Tower in Viersen - "a highly political matter" , Association for Home Care eV Viersen 2017.

Web links

Commons : Bismarck Tower  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günter Kloss; Sieglinde soul: Bismarck towers and Bismarck columns. An inventory . Imhof, Petersberg 1997, ISBN 3-932526-10-4 .
  2. ↑ Once upon a time in Viersen: The Origin of the Bismarck Tower | Rhenish mirror. Accessed January 4, 2020 (German).
  3. ↑ Celebration for the completion of the Bismarckian column . Meyer, Viersen 1902
  4. ↑ Business card Bismarck Tower . In: 100 Years of the Viersen Beautification Association. Viersen (1986).
  5. ↑ Bismarckian column on the Hoher Busch near Viersen. History and meaning . Viersen 2005.

Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 46.2 "  N , 6 ° 22 ′ 11.1"  E