Bismarckturm Weißenfels, Weißenfels

The Bismarck Tower in Weißenfels stands in the Klemmbergpark Weißenfels above the Weißenfels town center and is one of 146 Bismarck towers still existing in Germany. The Bismarck Tower Committee for the construction of the tower was founded under the chairmanship of the mayor of Weißenfels, Wadehn, and the lawyer Junge. It was decided to build the tower on the Klemmberg. The foundation stone of the monument was laid on October 13, 1906, and the inauguration took place in the presence of 12,000 Weißenfels residents on August 25, 1907.

In total, the construction costs of the 21 m high Bismarck Tower amounted to the then enormous sum of 21,800 Marks. Originally, only one Bismarck column was to be built, since the funds of the city administration were not sufficient. However, through a voluntary donation campaign supported by large parts of the citizens of Weißenfels, the necessary funds for a tower construction could be raised.

After the foundation of the German Democratic Republic in 1949, the Bismarck relief and the four eagles were removed and the tower was named after the theologian, mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler. It was open to visitors until the early 1980s, but was then closed due to damage to the staircase.

After reunification, the tower was given back its name. The non-profit Weißenfelser Bismarckturm Verein e.V. founded on October 26, 2005, was responsible for the gradual restoration between 2006 and 2015. The city of Weißenfels, major sponsors and citizens of Weißenfels supported the restoration of the monument. In the course of the restoration, the tower dome was completed in 2007, the 100th anniversary of the tower, and the tower was again accessible. The four eagles removed during GDR times were returned to the tower in pairs in May 2010 and June 2012.

The tower is open from April to October on every 2nd and last Sunday of the month from 2 to 5 pm and offers a view of Weißenfels and the Saale Valley.