King Friedrich August Tower
The König-Friedrich-August-Turm on the Löbauer Berg in Löbau , Saxony , named after Friedrich August the Second , is the only remaining cast-iron observation tower in Europe and probably the oldest cast-iron tower ever.
It was built in 1854 from cast iron on a stone base, is 28 meters high and four meters in diameter, has an octagonal shape and contains three external galleries 12, 18 and 24 meters high. The inner spiral staircase has 120 steps. On the top gallery or viewing platform, you are at a height of around 25 meters above the surrounding terrain. From the tower you can see as far as the Zittau Mountains and over large parts of the Upper Lusatia landscape .
The tower named after the Saxon King Friedrich August II. Is now a technical monument under monument protection and is a popular, well-known excursion destination.
history
Around 1850, considerations arose to build a lookout tower on the Löbauer Berg, which was already used as an excursion destination. After discussions about the appearance and financing, there were two alternative plans for a stone tower and one made of cast iron in 1853. The decision was made to use a filigree cast iron construction based on the technical model of the London “ Crystal Palace ” designed by the British architect Paxton in 1847 . The building style of the tower is one of the historicist neo- styles of the 19th century. Its ornamentation is based on Gothic and Byzantine models.
When the financing threatened to fail, the Löbauer master baker Friedrich August Bretschneider took the initiative to build the tower on his own after negotiations with the city in 1854.
King Friedrich August Tower with guest house
Relief of the namesake
Tourist information board König-Friedrich-August-Turm - Cast iron tower on the B 178
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Construction began on May 18, 1854. Load-bearing pillars were anchored eight meters deep in the rock and an octagonal frame was made from 80 m³ of wood for the tower structure. The individual cast iron parts were cast in the ironworks in Bernsdorf . In February, King Friedrich August of Saxony gave the approval that the tower could bear his name and that the Saxon coat of arms could be attached. On the occasion of the king's 57th birthday, the iron ground anchor was ceremoniously installed on May 18, 1854.
At the beginning of June the tower began to be erected. Assembly took only two and a half months, despite the difficult technical possibilities, and so the König-Friedrich-August-Turm was opened to the public on September 9, 1854. His namesake, the Saxon King, had previously had a fatal accident in Tyrol. The construction costs amounted to 25,000 thalers .
In 1870 the tower was taken over by the financier's heirs and also received eight copper orientation boards. In 1889 it was repaired and in 1902 it was extended and raised with a restaurant facility.
In 1993/94 the König-Friedrich-August-Turm was dismantled, the individual parts were thoroughly renovated and the tower was rebuilt in 1994.
A tourist information board for the König-Friedrich-August-Turm was set up on the B 178 in November 2010. It was the first of its kind that was approved and set up after the change in the guidelines for tourist signage on a motorway-like federal road in the Free State of Saxony.
literature
- Karl Bernert : The observation tower on the Löbauer Berg . In: Institute for Monument Preservation, Berlin, i. A. d. Ministry of Culture of the German Democratic Republic a. Cultural Association of the German Democratic Republic, Central Commission Nature and Homeland (Hrsg.): Preservation of monuments in the German Democratic Republic . Berlin 1975, p. 51-54 .
- Karl Bernert: The cast iron tower on the Löbauer Berg . Ed .: Council of the City of Löbau. Löbau, DNB 110884523 (probably 1986).
Web links
- The König-Friedrich-August-Turm - inscriptions and coats of arms
- 150 years of the King Friedrich August Tower
- King Friedrich August Tower. In: Structurae
Coordinates: 51 ° 5 ′ 28 " N , 14 ° 41 ′ 34" E