Bismarck Tower, Memorial tower in Stuttgart, Germany

The Bismarck Tower is a sandstone observation tower on the Gähkopf hill within Stuttgart, standing about 20 meters tall. Inside, a staircase leads up to an open viewing platform at the top, where the city and the surrounding wooded hills come into view.

Students at the Technical University of Stuttgart initiated the tower in May 1899 and raised funds through donations, including a major gift from Adolf von Kröner. The foundation stone was laid on 14 November 1902 under architect Karl Heim and builder Heinrich Nagel. The tower opened on 16 July 1904 and was handed over to the city; from 1928 it also served as a water tower.

The tower is one of the Bismarck towers built after a competition-winning design by Wilhelm Kreis, titled Götterdämmerung. Its fire bowl, 1.5 metres square, burned a tar and petroleum mixture on Bismarck's birthday, death day and the day the German Empire was founded. Since 1928 it has also served as a water tower, and today the Bürgerverein Killesberg und Umgebung cares for it.

The tower stands on the Gähkopf, the highest point in Stuttgart-Nord at 409.5 m, reached on foot via paths through the wooded Killesberg area; sturdy shoes help on the climb. The viewing platform is reached by an internal staircase. The tower is cared for by the Bürgerverein Killesberg und Umgebung e. V.

At one point, more than 700 Bismarck towers were built across Germany, but only around 170 survive today. The Stuttgart example is among those still accessible to visitors, making it a rare chance to step inside a type of monument that once covered the country.