The Grunewald Tower or is a historical tower in the

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 locality. At it is the largest green area in the city of Berlin. Geography The forest occupies, on the western side, 3/ ...

of southwestern Berlin, Germany, built in 1897-99 according to plans designed by Franz Heinrich Schwechten. The

viewing platform An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed ...

offers a view over the

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe and long. However, the direct distance from its source to its mo ...

at a height of .

Overview

In 1897 Teltow, a rural district of the Province of Brandenburg, mandated the construction of a memorial tower to mark the 100th birthday of the German Emperor Wilhelm I (d. 1888).Reschke, Manfred (2014).
Die Havel: Natur und Kultur zwischen Müritz und Havelberg
'. 2nd ed. Berlin: Trescher Verlag. p. 174. On June 9, 1899 the landmark was opened to the public as "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Turm" ( en, Emperor William Tower), though the inscription on the eastern facade reads "Koenig Wilhelm I zum Gedaechtniss" (to King William I, in memory), as he was also king of Prussia. A second inscription, on the western facade, facing the Havel river, reads: "Der Kreis Teltow baute mich 1897" (The district of Teltow built me in 1897). Elizabeth of Wied, queen consort of Romania, visited the top of the tower in March 1916, during World War I. She was elderly and it took her over two and a half hours to make it to the top, from which she waved at a crowd of about 350 people below. Elizabeth, who was an accomplished writer and translator, died the following day. In 1948, following World War II, the tower was renamed Grunewaldturm, after the surrounding forest, near the

River. A comprehensive renovation of the tower then took place in 1953. It was later closed in October 2007 due to significant structural damage to the staircase. The necessary renovation cost 1.5 million euros and lasted until Easter 2011, reopening on April 22. Since the 1990s, the tower has also doubled as a cell tower.

Architecture

The tower, built in

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (german: Backsteingotik, pl, Gotyk ceglany, nl, Baksteengotiek) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resourc ...

Revival style and designed by Franz Schwechten, stands high and is located on the high Karlsberg hill of the Teltow plateau on the eastern shore of the

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

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

and

Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

. The neo-Byzantine ceiling mosaics in the hall are early works by the church painter and mosaic artist August Oetken, executed by the company Puhl & Wagner. A decorative band, wraps around the tower. Inscriptions are on the east and west sides, with two coats of arms located above them. The coat of arms on the side facing the river shows the red Brandenburg eagle, while the one facing the forest has the black Prussian eagle.''Der Kaiserthurm auf dem Karlsberge im Grunewald bei Berlin''. Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung, 19. Jg., Nr. 21 (18. März 1899), S. 122/123 204 steps lead to a platform offering a panoramic view over the Havelland region and the Grunewald forest. The building has a restaurant and a beer garden.

Overview

Architecture

References

See also