Leaning Tower of Suurhusen
The leaning tower of Suurhusen is a church tower in the East Frisian town of Suurhusen , municipality of Hinte , which is considered to be the most unintentionally inclined tower in the world. He belongs to the Evangelical Reformed parish of Suurhusen-Marienwehr.
At a height of 27.37 meters, the tower has an overhang of 2.47 meters on the roof ridge , which corresponds to a slope of 5.19 degrees. This means that he is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the record holder for buildings that were not built intentionally crooked .
history
The church tower was built in 1450 to the mid-13th century and previously existing turretless church with a surface area cultivated by 32 × 9.35 meters. It stands on a foundation made of oak logs over bog soil.
In 1885 a deviation of the tower from the vertical was noticed for the first time. This is attributed to the drainage of the surrounding lands, which lowered the groundwater level, whereupon the oak trunks that had previously been preserved in the groundwater began to rot due to the ingress of air.
In 1917, during the First World War, the bell had to be surrendered from the western sound opening in exchange for a compensation payment of 4,570 marks for the production of war material.
Around 1925, various measurements showed that the tower had an overhang of 1.13 m. As a relief measure, the 12 meter high ridge turret was removed in 1926 , but the tower continued to tilt. In 1929 an overhang of 1.15 m was determined, in 1939 it was 1.74 m and increased to 2.47 m by 1996. The church was closed in 1975 and the organ was sold.
From 1982, the tower was renovated on a private initiative, whereby the foundation was exposed and reinforced with concrete and steel. On October 14, 1985, the church was consecrated again with a festive service. However, the slope could not be completely stabilized, so that in 1989 further safety measures were necessary. The sinking of the tower has been held up since the mid-1990s.
Today the church is used for church services on feast days. Six to eight thousand foreign visitors are recorded every year.
Dimensions and data
The tower has a footprint of 11 × 11 meters (121 m²) and is 27.37 meters high. The slope has stabilized at 2.47 meters, measured at the roof ridge. The approximately two meter thick foundation masonry rests on oak planks, the total weight is around 2116 tons.
record
In the Guinness Book of Records , the tower of the Suurhuser Church has replaced the Leaning Tower of Pisa (the inclination of which is 3.97 degrees after structural measures) as the most leaning tower in the world.
The 18 degrees inclined Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi, also mentioned in the Guinness Book 2010, was intentionally built with this inclination and does not count as competition. The Suurhusen record is called into question by the Leaning Tower of Dausenau .
particularities
At the northwest corner of the tower, a walled-in sandstone marks the state of the All Saints Flood of 1570 at a height of 4.40 meters above sea level .
Web links
- www.kirche-suurhusen.de The church in Suurhusen
- Press reports about the church and its tower on Suurhusen-Marienwehr.Reformiert.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b sueddeutsche.de: The leaning tower in the world November 8, 2007
- ↑ Guinness World Records , accessed September 29, 2015
- ↑ Helmut Mudder: The most crooked church tower in the world. Old Church in Suurhusen , Hinte 2008, p. 3f.
- ↑ The record was six buses in one day . In: Emder Zeitung of December 27, 2011, accessed on May 7, 2017.
Coordinates: 53 ° 24 ′ 48.5 ″ N , 7 ° 13 ′ 24 ″ E