Bachtel Tower (German: ''Bachtelturm'') is a tall radio tower on high
Bachtel
Bachtel is a mountain of the Zurich Oberland, located between Hinwil and Wald in the canton of Zurich. It lies approximately halfway between the Schnebelhorn (the highest point of the canton) and Lake Zurich.
On the summit is the Bachtel Tower, ...
mountain near
Hinwil
Hinwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich in Switzerland.
History
The village Hinwil from which the later municipality ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, overlooking the
Zürcher Oberland
The Zürcher Oberland ("Zurich highlands") in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zurich, bordering on the Toggenburg, including the districts of Uster, Hinwil, Pfäffikon as well as the Töss Valley as far as the dist ...
.
Bachtel Tower is a
lattice tower
A lattice tower or truss tower is a freestanding vertical framework tower. This construction is widely used in transmission towers carrying high voltage electric power lines, in radio masts and towers (a self-radiating tower or as a support for a ...
whose observation deck, metres above the ground, is accessible by a stairway. It was built as replacement for a smaller observation tower on the site in 1986. On the observation deck of Bachtel Tower there is an illustration with the names of the mountains of the
Swiss Alps
The Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps (german: Schweizer Alpen, french: Alpes suisses, it, Alpi svizzere, rm, Alps svizras), represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss ...
visible. This illustration was designed by Paul Thalmann from Wernetshausen near Hinwil.
History
In 1873, a wooden tower was built; it was destroyed twenty years later, followed in 1893 by an
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 to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...
of steel. This second tower was declared in 1979 by the government of the
canton of Zürich
The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...
as an object of
historic preservation
Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...
. Six years later, the tower was stored by the
Swiss Post
Swiss Post (french: La Poste suisse, it, La Posta Svizzera, german: Die Schweizerische Post, rm, La Posta Svizra) is the national postal service of Switzerland. A public company owned by the Swiss Confederation, it is the country's second larg ...
(former PTT) on technical reasons, and in 1992, the tower was rebuilt on
Pfannenstiel.
Gallery
See also
*
List of towers
Several extant building fulfill the engineering definition of a tower: "a tall human structure, always taller than it is wide, for public or regular operational access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are ''self-supporting' ...
External links
Bachtel Tower on swisspanoramas.ch
Towers completed in 1986
Observation towers in Switzerland
{{Switzerland-struct-stub