The Grunewald Tower or Grunewaldturm is a historical tower in the Grunewald forest

Grunewald (forest)

Grunewald is a German forest located in the western side of Berlin on the east side of the Havel, mainly in the Grunewald district...

 of southwestern Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, built in 1897-99 according to plans designed by Franz Heinrich Schwechten

Franz Heinrich Schwechten

Franz Heinrich Schwechten was one of the most famous German architects of his time, and has contributed to the development of the historicist architecture....

.

Overview

In 1897 the Brandenburgian

Province of Brandenburg

The Province of Brandenburg was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:The first people who are known to have inhabited Brandenburg were the Suevi. They were succeeded by the Slavonians, whom Henry II conquered and converted to Christianity in...

 rural district of Teltow

Teltow

Teltow is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is ....

 assigned the building order on the occasion of the 100th birthday of the German Emperor Wilhelm I

William I, German Emperor

William I, also known as Wilhelm I , of the House of Hohenzollern was the King of Prussia and the first German Emperor .Under the leadership of William and his Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany and the...

. On June 9, 1899 the landmark was opened to the public as "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Turm" (Emperor William Tower), though the inscription on the facade reads Koenig Wilhelm I (King William I) zum Gedaechtniss. After World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 it was renamed Grunewaldturm after the surrounding forest.

The tower built in a Brick Gothic

Brick Gothic

Brick Gothic is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northern Europe, especially in Northern Germany and the regions around the Baltic Sea that do not have natural rock resources. The buildings are essentially built from bricks...

 Revival architecture has a height of 55 m (180.4 ft) and is located on the 79 m (259.2 ft) high Karlsberg hill on the eastern shore of the Havel

Havel

The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...

 River. The building contains a domed hall with a marble statue of Wilhelm I and four iron reliefs depicting Albrecht von Roon, Helmuth von Moltke

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke was a German Field Marshal. The chief of staff of the Prussian Army for thirty years, he is regarded as one of the great strategists of the latter 19th century, and the creator of a new, more modern method of directing armies in the field...

, Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck

Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...

 and Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia

Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia

Prince Friedrich Carl Nicolaus of Prussia was the son of Prince Charles of Prussia and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach . Prince Frederick Charles was a grandson of King Frederick William III of Prussia and a nephew of Frederick William IV and William I...

. 204 steps lead to the platform offering a panoramic view over the Havelland

Havelland

Havelland is a geograhical region and district in Brandenburg, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Ostprignitz-Ruppin and Oberhavel, the city-state of Berlin, the district of Potsdam-Mittelmark, the city of Brandenburg and the state of Saxony-Anhalt .-History:-Geography:Geographically...

 region and the Grunewald forest. The building has a restaurant and a beer garden

Beer garden

Beer garden is an open-air area where beer, other drinks and local food are served. The concept originates from and is most common in Southern Germany...

.

See also

• Grunewald
  Grunewald
  Grunewald is a locality within the Berliner borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Famous for the homonymous forest, until 2001 administrative reform it was part of the former district of Wilmersdorf.-Geography:The locality is situated in the western side of the city and is separated from...
  
   (locality)
• List of towers