The Bismarck Tower on the 268 metre high Stahlsberg above Opperode in the borough of Ballenstedt

Ballenstedt

Ballenstedt is a town in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the northern rim of the Harz mountain range, about 10 km southeast of Quedlinburg. The municipality includes the villages of Badeborn and Oppenrode...

 in Germany is a monument

Bismarck tower

Bismarck Towers are a unique genre of German monument, built to honour the ex-chancellor of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. A total of 240 of these towers were built between German unification and the National Socialist takeover, i.e. between 1869 and 1934...

 to the German chancellor, Bismarck

Bismarck

- People :* Bismarck family, a German noble family descending from Herebord von Bismarck* Otto von Bismarck , German statesman of the 19th century* Herbert von Bismarck , Secretary of State, son of Otto von Bismarck...

. The tower can be used as an observation tower

Observation tower

An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision. They are usually at least tall and made from stone, iron, and wood. Many modern towers are also used as TV towers, restaurants, or churches...

.

History

On the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig

Battle of Leipzig

The Battle of Leipzig or Battle of the Nations, on 16–19 October 1813, was fought by the coalition armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden against the French army of Napoleon. Napoleon's army also contained Polish and Italian troops as well as Germans from the Confederation of the Rhine...

 in 1913, Ballenstedt's lord mayor, Wendt, proposed the erection of a Bismarck tower. The tower committee that was formed to take this forward, selected the Stahlsberg hill near Opperode as the location and Professor Wilhelm Kreis

Wilhelm Kreis

Wilhelm Kreis was a prominent German architect and professor of architecture, active through four political systems in German history: the Wilhelmine era, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the foundation of the Federal Republic.Kreis was born in Eltville am Rhein in Hesse-Nassau...

 as the architect. He decided on a tower that was extremely similar to his award-winning Götterdämmerung

Götterdämmerung

is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...

design.

The Bismarck Tower was made of limestone and granite from the nearby Harz Mountains. During the First World War, work ground to a halt and it was not taken up again until the 1930s under the direction of the Ballenstedt branch of the Harz Club

Harz Club

The Harz Club is club dedicated to maintaining the traditions of the Harz mountains in Germany and looking after the walking trails in the Harz. It was founded in 1886 in Seesen and, today, has about 16,000 members in some 90 branches.- History :...

who, however, went for a simpler shape. For example, they left out the planned brazier (Feuerschale) on the observation platform.

After being restored the tower was opened again on 1 July 1995. It is not permanently open as an observation tower.

External links

• Der Bismarckturm in Ballenstedt bei www.bismarcktuerme.de