The tower on Memminger Hühnerberg stands 18 meters tall, featuring a battlemented crown. It was built in 1904 by the local Verschönerungsverein, who hired the city master builder Peter Lang to design a structure that served as an observation tower.
Nearly four years after construction, followers of Otto von Bismarck rededicated the tower as a Bismarckturm. They added a Bismarck coat of arms, crafted by stonemason Georg Pöppel and originally designed in color, and a relief created by sculptor Gustav Adolf Daumiller and cast by Christoph Lenz from Nuremberg for 1100 Marks. They also purchased removable fire baskets for lighting the tower.
Four inscriptions are located on the four sides of the tower below the observation platform. One reads: WIR DEUTSCHE FÜRCHTEN GOTT SONST NICHS AUF DER WELT. Another reads: ICH GLAUBE, DASS IN DIESER WELT DIE WAHRHEIT STETS DEN SIEG BEHÄLT. A third reads: HEBEN WIR DEUTSCHLAND SOZUSAGEN IN DEN SATTEL! REITEN WIRD ES SCHON KÖNNEN. The fourth reads: DIE NATIONALE EINIGUNG DER DEUTSCHEN WAR DER LEITSTERN MEINER LAUFBAHN.
Changes have occurred over time. The motto IN TRINITATE ROBUR, which was placed below the Bismarck coat of arms, is no longer present today. The coat of arms was painted white, and the entrance of the tower has been bricked up. The tower was renovated in the year 2000.
In 2011, a fire was set in the tower by unknown people. A sheet metal structure burned out during the fire, causing property damage of 5000 Euro. Today, the tower remains under monument protection on the Hühnerberg.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Aurora
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