Jahrtausendturm (german: millennium tower) is, at , one of the highest wooden towers in the world. It was established on the occasion of the
Bundesgartenschau
The Bundesgartenschau BUGA is a biennial federal horticulture show in Germany. It also covers topics like landscaping. Taking place in different cities, the location changes in a two-year cycle.
BUGA cities
*1951 – Hannover
*1953 – Hamburg
...
1999 in the Magdeburger
Elbauenpark in
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 ...
,
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 ...
. The tower houses an exhibition on the development of sciences, which is supported by many descriptive experiments with which the visitor can interact. One notable example is a powerful telescope through which visitors can observe the distant clock-face on the Magdeburger cathedral.
Construction
The intentionally inclined designed tower leads its visitor through an exhibit representing 6,000 years of human history. The tower has six floors, five of which comprise the history exhibit. The individual floors are accessible by means of an internal stairway, as well as a spiral wooden stair on the tower's exterior. The 8,000 square meter exhibition surface offers approximately 80 interactive experimental setups for the visitor to manipulate. In addition, the tower offers several hundred informational exhibits and diagrams. The exhibit is installed in chronological order. The Millennium Tower is in the Elbauenpark Magdeburg. Admission to the tower is included in the entrance price of the park.
Floors
On the lowest floor one finds exhibits related to the earliest cultures and the birth of human history. The visitor will find (among other things) an accessible
Ancient Egyptian dwelling, a grave chamber and a labyrinth. Exhibits are not limited to
physical anthropology
Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct Hominini, hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly ...
. The physical sciences and
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
of earliest antiquity are described and represented in experiments, exhibits and diagrams.
The second floor concerns itself with the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
(500-1500). Here is represented antique world systems and
medicine
Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pract ...
,
simple machine
A simple machine is a mechanical device that changes the direction or magnitude of a force. In general, they can be defined as the simplest mechanisms that use mechanical advantage (also called leverage) to multiply force. Usually the term refer ...
s and the science of early Arabia. Included in the interactive exhibits are pulley-blocks, a water wheel, and a human-powered impeller for pumping liquids.
The third floor is devoted to the knowledge of the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
to early modern times (1500–1750). Here the visitor finds exhibits on
mechanics
Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...
,
vacuum
A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...
,
magnetism
Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...
, mathematics,
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
, medicine and conceptions of world change. Important wars, the important journeys of discovery and major inventions (e.g., the
printing press
A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a printing, print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in wh ...
, the
telescope
A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...
) are among the main topics.
The fourth floor shows the period 1650-1859. The floor is divided into the levels 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. Topics include medicine and
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
,
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...
and sensory perception, as well as
optics
Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...
. Topics here include
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
,
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
engineering,
caloric theory
The caloric theory is an obsolete scientific theory that heat consists of a self-repellent fluid called caloric that flows from hotter bodies to colder bodies. Caloric was also thought of as a weightless gas that could pass in and out of pores i ...
, fixed star
parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...
,
Doppler effect
The Doppler effect or Doppler shift (or simply Doppler, when in context) is the change in frequency of a wave in relation to an observer who is moving relative to the wave source. It is named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler, who d ...
, space and time, as well as
genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of technologies used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including t ...
and the
nuclear energy
Nuclear energy may refer to:
*Nuclear power, the use of sustained nuclear fission or nuclear fusion to generate heat and electricity
* Nuclear binding energy, the energy needed to fuse or split a nucleus of an atom
*Nuclear potential energy
...
. Numerous experiments illustrate the topics.
The fifth floor concerns itself with modern research in the natural sciences and medicine. Emphasis is on the general topics "microcosm" and "macrocosm".
The sixth floor houses the observation platform.
Data
*height: 60 m;
*oval base: 70x50 m;
*wood used in construction: 5,500 m³;
*surrounded space: 61.000 m³;
*tarpaulin: 5000 m²;
*exhibition area: 8,030 m²;
*height of the observation deck: 43 m;
*steps to the observation deck: 243;
*length of the exterior ramp: 450 m
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
*
{{coord, 52.138, 11.667, region:DE-ST_type:landmark, display=title
Towers in Germany
Buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium
Towers completed in 1999
Buildings and structures in Magdeburg
Tourist attractions in Magdeburg
1999 establishments in Germany