Tower of Federal Loyalty

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The Tower of Federal Loyalty was a building in Saxony that was supposed to symbolize the friendship between Germany and Austria-Hungary . It was built on the saddle between the Saxon Fichtelberg and the Keilberg in Bohemia at an altitude of 1080 m not far from the New House between Oberwiesenthal and Gottesgab . The architect was Wilhelm Zehl from Annaberg . The tower existed from 1915 to 1949.

history

The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone took place in the middle of the First World War on September 26, 1915 by the festival committee under the leadership of the mayors Elger and Müller from Oberwiesenthal and Gottesgab Hofrat Oskar Seyffert from Dresden held the keynote address, which had to be moved to the “Stadt Karlsbad” hotel in Oberwiesenthal due to bad weather.

Due to the course of the war and the tight budget, the construction of the tower was very hesitant. The population therefore initially referred to the building as a hunger tower . In 1917 two nationalist celebrations took place in the still unfinished tower on the occasion of the two birthdays of the Saxon King Friedrich August and the Emperor Karl of Austria.

The end of World War I in 1918 and the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy with the establishment of Czechoslovakia led to the cessation of work on the tower. It was initially used as a customs office. In the Weimar Republic, the construction work with the aim of a different use under the direction of the architect Becker from Lichtenstein / Sa. resumed. Becker added a square tower to which the letters “ DKW ” were attached, since the German Motor Vehicle Union had bought the tower in the meantime. From then on, the tower was used to advertise this company and was also called the "DKW tower" or "DKW Warte".

After the Second World War, lightning struck the tower and caused cracks to form, which led to the instability of the structure. Access to the tower was blocked. In August 1949 he collapsed. The broken masses were completely removed later.

literature

  • Brigitte Roscher: From the Tower of Federal Loyalty to the Hunger Tower , in: Mei 'Erzgebirg', 46 (2000), No. 552, p. 6.
  • Klaus Welter: Once upon a time there was a tower on the German-Bohemian border ... in: Sächsische Heimat 2016, calendar sheet 9th week.

Web links

Coordinates: 50 ° 24 '40.8 "  N , 12 ° 56' 14.1"  E