Plesseturm
The Plesseturm is a 22 m high observation tower built in 1963/64 on the Plesse mountain in the Wanfrieder Werrahöhen . It is located in the wooded east of the urban area of Wanfried in the Hessian Werra-Meißner district .
The tower has been closed since 2016 due to weathering damage.
Geographical location
The Plesseturm stands on the shell limestone plateau of the Plesse mountain ( 479.6 m above sea level ), which lies between the north-north-west Keudelskuppe ( 484.7 m ) and the south-east Konstein ( 455.2 m ). It is located about 300 m south of the Plessefelsen and 200 m west of the Hessian- Thuringian state border (until 1990 the former inner-German border ).
The tower is about 2 km northeast of the Wanfrieder core town in the Werra valley ; Viewed in the direction of flow, the Wanfrieder districts of Heldra , Altenburschla , Völkershausen and downstream Aue are located above the city center on the river ; The Werra Valley Cycle Path runs along the river . In the neighboring Thuringian Eichsfeld , 1.7 km northeast of the tower, is the village of Hildebrandshausen , a district of the municipality of Südeichsfeld .
history
First Plesseturm
The first 9 m high Plesseturm was built on the Plesse in 1884 by the Werra Valley Association "Wannfried Section". The inauguration took place on June 1, 1884. The tower allowed a panoramic view over the southern Eichsfeld, to the Hainich , Thuringian Forest with the Großer Inselsberg , Heldrastein , Schlierbachswald , Hohen Meißner , Hülfensberg and Harz with the Brocken . The idea and execution of this tower are thanks to the royal forester Mittelacher and the building contractor Besser from Wanfried. The tower was renewed in 1891, closed in 1959 due to dilapidation and demolished in 1961.
Today's Plesseturm
The Werra Valley Association, under its 1st chairman, Brill and F. Becker, actively supported the preparatory work and planning of a new Plesseturm. The reconstruction could not be borne by the Werra Valley Association due to the high costs involved. The new tower could only be built in 1963/64 when the mayor of Wanfried at the time, Erich Thomas, raised public funds. Planning, drawing and statics were carried out by the Wanfrieder architect Albin Gatzemeier. The total cost of building the tower was 36,000 DM.
Construction began on August 11, 1963. A foundation pit was blasted with the help of the 12th hundred of the Federal Border Police in Eschwege, led by Erich Klemm. The carpenter Karl Wetzestein from Wanfried carried out the order for the new building. The tower has a height of 22 m and rests on a reinforced concrete foundation of 8 × 8 × 1 m. 80 m³ of gravel, 400 bags of cement and 1.5 tons of iron were used for the foundation. Master bricklayer Willi Thomas was responsible for the foundation.
For the timber construction, 34 solid cubic meters of larch logs were felled by the Wanfried district forester. The forest officer Dieter Schnell chose four identical 40 m high larch trees from which the 21.5 m high corner posts were then made. The four side parts were tied in the Wetzestein carpentry workshop in the fall of 1963 and transported to the plateau on a Ruhlandt long timber wagon at the end of November. Carpenters, craftsmen, volunteers from Wanfried and the Federal Border Police (BGS) under the direction of Erich Klemm built the tower, which was built on six floors.
The tower was inaugurated on May 14, 1964. The Hessian Minister for Economics and Transport, Albert Osswald, handed the tower over to its destination and expressed his joy that the tower would keep the view of the other part of Germany (GDR). Also present at the inauguration were the District Administrator Eitel Oskar Höhne , the Hessian State Commissioner for the Zonal Border Areas Heinz Kreutzmann , the Tourism Advisor in the Hessian Ministry of Economics, the Chairman of the State Foreign Tourism Association Kurhessen-Waldeck Reccius and the Chairman of the Main Management of the Werratal Association Willi Schein.
Due to weathering of the wood, stability and traffic safety are no longer guaranteed. The staircase in the tower has therefore been closed since March 2016.
Plesseturm from the east,
... from the southwest (from a distance of 2 km) and
... from the south
Hiking and view
The Plesseturm can be reached, for example, on the 9 km long premium hiking trail P5 Plesse , which begins in Wanfrieder Elfengrund at the waterfall of the Werra tributary Gatterbach , over the Plesse to the tower, past the Plessefelsen, down to the Plesse barbecue area on the western slope of the ridge and then back to Waterfall leads.
The viewing platform of today's tower is 18 m high, which is 497.6 m above sea level. Corresponds to NHN . The view from left to right (Hessen = HE; Thuringia = TH):
- Karnberg (HE) and Muhlienberg (HE), behind the Heldrastein (TH) and Großer Inselsberg (TH)
- the Schlierbachswald (HE) and behind the Graburg and Boyneburg (HE)
- in the Eschweger basin the Blaue Kuppe (HE) and the Leuchtberge (HE) and behind that the Hohe Meißner (HE)
- on the far right the Hülfensberg in southern Eichsfeld (TH)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b According to expert opinion: Wanfrieder Plesseturm is now closed . In: Werra-Rundschau , March 18, 2016; accessed on March 16, 2017
- ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
- ↑ Eschweger Tageblatt: A new observation tower was built by the Werra Valley Association and inaugurated on the Plesse . June 1, 1884.
- ↑ Werra-Rundschau: Inauguration of the new observation tower on the Plesse . May 14, 1964.
- ↑ Premium hiking trail P5 Bilstein . naturpark-mkw.de
Coordinates: 51 ° 11 '26.1 " N , 10 ° 11' 46.7" E