Rhine-Weser Tower

Rhine-Weser Tower
Rhine-Weser Tower
Data
place	Westerberg , Rothaar Mountains , North Rhine-Westphalia
Construction year	1932
height	24 m
Floor space	84.64 m²
Coordinates	51 ° 4 '16.3 "  N , 8 ° 11' 51.1"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 4 '16.3 "  N , 8 ° 11' 51.1"  E

Aerial view of the Rhine-Weser Tower

The Rhine-Weser Tower near Oberhundem in the North Rhine-Westphalian district of Olpe is a 24 m high observation tower located about 683 m above sea level on a southern branch of the Stengenberg (706.5 m) in the Rothaar Mountains . There is a restaurant on the ground floor.

Rhein-Weser-Turm is also the name of the local hamlet of the Kirchhundem community , which had thirteen residents as of December 31, 2016.

geography

location

The Rhein-Weser-Turm is located in the Rothaargebirge in the Kirchhundems municipality about 7.7 km (as the crow flies ) east-southeast of its core town between the districts of Oberhundem in the northwest and Rüspe in the southeast. In the Sauerland-Rothaargebirge nature park , it is located 145 m north-northeast of a wooded southern foothills ( 684.6  m above sea  level ;  ⊙ ) of the Stengenberg (706.5 m), which in turn is around 850 m east-northeast of the Westerberg ( 662.1  m ), at an altitude of about 683  m .

Rhine-Weser watershed

The Rhine-Weser watershed runs past the Rhein-Weser Tower and thus over the Westerberg : The water of all flowing waters , such as the Lütke Rinsecke and Rinsecke , which flow approximately northwest from the Westerberg, reaches the Rhine through the Hundem , Lenne and Ruhr . In contrast, that of the brooks that run roughly in a south-easterly direction, such as the Röspe (mostly also called Schwarzbach ), which rises about 700 m southwest of the tower, flows through the Eder and Fulda into the Weser .

history

Construction time and tower dates

Originally intended as a refuge for forest workers, churchgoers, hikers and skiers not far from a ski jumping hill (then called the “ski lift”), the idea of ​​building a lookout tower quickly developed.

The Rhein-Weser Tower was built in 1932 in 77 days during a job creation measure. Its opening was celebrated on the day of completion on August 21, 1932 with many celebrities and with a large participation of the population.

The windowed wooden tower has a square floor plan with a solid base made of local porphyry stone. Its inner construction of 4  spruce trunks with a boarded outer skin tapers upwards from 9.20 m × 9.20 m (84.64 m²) to 4 m × 4 m (16 m²). The eight-story tower has 113 beech wood steps , 60 of which were renewed in 2005. To increase stability, the tower is braced at an angle to the outside from the corners of the 6th floor with four steel cables.

Second World War

From 1943 the tower was used as a forest fire observation station and was closed to general visitor traffic.

After American units were able to take the Rhein-Weser Tower without significant resistance on April 6, 1945, an artillery observation post was set up there. The further advance to the nearby town of Oberhundem on the morning of April 7th turned into a catastrophe. From a hill opposite, the American troops advancing over the “ski track” on Oberhundem were taken under fire by light German anti-aircraft guns. 400 (according to other sources even 650) American soldiers are said to have died. Heavy artillery fire and air strikes on Oberhundem, in which another 25 German soldiers and 24 civilians were killed and large parts of the village were destroyed, were the result of this action.

post war period

In the immediate post-war period, people had other worries than the Rhein-Weser Tower. War damage initially remained unrepaired and the ingress of water caused additional damage. In 1949 the tower, threatened by collapse, was renovated with the help of donations and state subsidies.

In 1956 the observation tower went into private ownership and was managed by the owners and later by their children until 2000.

nowadays

At the end of 2000 there was another change of ownership. The Rhein-Weser-Turm became the property of the Schwermer family from neighboring Heinsberg . In the following months they and the newly founded Association of Friends and Supporters of the Rhein-Weser-Turm e. V. includes the guest rooms and the tower was clad in copper. During this time, the tower was placed under monument protection by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and a wedding room of the Kirchhundem registry office was housed in the restaurant. In addition, a hiking hotel, certified as a quality company Rothaarsteig, was set up in the former stable building of the tower.

The Rhine-Weser Tower survived the storm of the century "Kyrill" on January 18, 2007 unscathed as a sign of its stability. In the same year for the 75th anniversary celebrations on August 21, 2007, the "Wanderer Cross" was consecrated and designed, designed and consecrated by the local artist Father Leo Jahn.

The Rhein-Weser Tower is currently climbed by an annual average of around 10,000 visitors.

Possibility of viewing

From the viewing platform of the Rhein-Weser tower which is provided on all sides under the windows with orientation boards, offers to nearly 704  m altitude, a panoramic over parts of Rothaargebirge and Sauer country as well as among other things to this point of view targets (clockwise) - with height in Meter (m) above mean sea ​​level:

To the north one looks to the Bald Mountain ( 710.8  m ) and past this to the northeast of Lennestadt at Saalhausen located Saalhausen Hills (up to 688.5  m ). In the northeast, past the Hohen Hessel ( 743.6  m ), the Härdler ( 756.3  m ) adjoins. To the east lies the Große Kopf ( 740.3  m ), a little south of it the Loh ( 674.5  m ) and in the valley beyond it Bad Berleburg . To the southeast, the view extends into the Hessian mountainous region to the bagpipe ( 673.5  m ) near Biedenkopf .

The belt ( 677.7  m ) connects to the south . To the southwest when one looks to the distant Kreuztal located Kindelsberg ( 618.1  m ), on which the observation tower Kindelsberg tower stands. Much closer in this direction are the Eggenkopf ( 647.3  m ), where the Panorama Park Sauerland Wildlife Park is located, and beyond it the Milsenberg ( 669.8  m ). To the west of the Bilsteiner Land rises the Hohe Bracht ( 587.7  m ) on the other side of Kirchhundem with an observation tower and a little to the right of it the Ebbegebirge can be seen in the northwest . In the north-northwest, beyond the Hundem and Lenne valleys as well as the Ilberg ( 621  m ), the Saalhauser mountains can be seen again; thus the circle of vision closes.

Traffic and walking

The state road  553 leads 155 m northeast past the tower, which reaches a maximum height of 673.4  m there , was built from 1881 to 1884 as "Hundem-Eder-Provinzialstraße" and winding Oberhundem via Rüspe (both to Kirchhundem) with Röspe (to Erndtebrück ) connects. The Rothaarsteig , Wilhelm-Münker-Weg and Christine-Koch-Weg cross at the tower . About 1.5 km (as the crow flies) west-southwest of the tower is the Panorama-Park Sauerland Wildlife Park .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} The Rhein Weser Tower , on rhein-weser-turm.de
2. ↑ Parameter error template: GeoQuelle
3. ↑ ^{a b} Rhein-Weser-Turm , in Kirchhundem municipality → Orte , accessed on June 3, 2017
4. ↑ Topographical Information Management, Cologne District Government, Department GEObasis NRW ( Notes )

literature

• Karl Nöcker: 50 years of the Rhein-Weser-Turm - compiled from oral and written reports , published by Karl Nöcker in cooperation with the Verkehrsverein Oberhundem e. V.
• 75 Years of the Rhein-Weser Tower , published by Friends and Supporters of the Rhein-Weser Tower, Kirchhundem 2007

Web links

Commons : Rhein-Weser-Turm  - collection of pictures

• Rhein-Weser Tower (official homepage)