The Goethe Tower (german: Goetheturm) is a 43-metre high public

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 ...

built entirely out of wood on the northern edge of

Frankfurt City Forest The Frankfurt City Forest or ''Frankfurter Stadtwald'' is a forest district in the south of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. There are also other forest areas spread out through the city. Basic Facts The forest is about 48 square kilometres and the la ...

located in

Sachsenhausen Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

(

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

). The tower was built in honour of the German writer and poet

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

. Apart from some taller wooden radio towers, it is the fifth-tallest wooden construction in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

after the

Jahrtausendturm Jahrtausendturm (german: millennium tower) is, at , one of the highest wooden towers in the world. It was established on the occasion of the Bundesgartenschau 1999 in the Magdeburger Elbauenpark in Magdeburg, Germany. The tower houses an exhib ...

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...

, the

Eichberg Tower __NOTOC__ The Eichberg Tower is an observation tower on the 369 m high Eichberg mountain above the city of Emmendingen. The tower platform sits 10 m above the surrounding oak forest, and its top over 17 mm making it the highest observation to ...

Emmendingen Emmendingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Emmedinge'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Emmendingen of Germany. It is located at the Elz River, north of Freiburg im Breisgau. The town contains more than 26,000 residents, which ...

, the

Blumenthal Observation Tower The Blumenthal Observation Tower is a 45 metre tall observation tower built of wood in Blumenthal, part of the municipality Heiligengrabe, Brandenburg, Germany. Overview The Blumenthal Observation Tower was inaugurated on September 18, 2004, and i ...

and the Weißtannenturm in

Kehl Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some munic ...

History

In 1867, a wooden tower was first built on the site, at that time 22 metres tall. After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, this first tower had become so rickety that it had to be pulled down. In 1931, the Goethe Tower was rebuilt with money donated by the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

businessman Gustav Gerst. The opening ceremony took place in November 1931, shortly before the 1932 commemorations of Goethe's death one hundred years before. The city of

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

provided the wood for the tower – altogether more than 170m³ of pine, beech, and oak timber. The Goethe Tower remained a popular place for day-trippers, especially families, as a large playground and a café were built at the foot of the tower. The building was completely destroyed in a fire due to

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...

on 12 October 2017. It was one of Frankfurt's beloved landmarks, visited by many tourists. In an online survey in 2017, 78 percent of respondents wanted the reconstruction to be true to the original. Citizens donated just under 200,000 euros to support the project. The construction costs amounted to 2.4 million euros, with the majority paid by insurance. The new tower was completely assembled from chestnut and oak wood on 28 July 2020, followed by a topping-out ceremony two days later. The inauguration and opening to the public took place on 12 October 2020.

References

External links

*http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b41987 * {{Coord, 50, 05, 20, N, 8, 42, 40, E, region:DE-HE_type:landmark, display=title Observation towers in Hesse Buildings and structures in Frankfurt Tourist attractions in Frankfurt Johann Wolfgang von Goethe