Bertzit Tower, Industrial monument in Plessa, Germany.
Bertzit Tower is an industrial monument in Plessa, rising 35 meters (115 feet) with a square concrete structure built in 1920. It was designed to serve as a drying facility for brown coal processing using a specialized method, though it never operated for this purpose.
The structure was built in 1920 near the Ada coal mine during Germany's industrial growth focused on electricity generation. It represents an era when new coal-drying technologies were being tested, though technical obstacles prevented successful operation.
The tower's form echoes church architecture from the region, blending traditional building styles with industrial needs. Visitors can see how such structures shaped the local community's view of progress and work during that era.
The tower sits along well-developed cycling networks that connect visitors to other regional sites and make exploration easy. The best time to visit is during warmer months when pathways and surrounding areas are most accessible.
The tower was never operational and was effectively a monument from the start, making it one of the oldest abandoned industrial structures in the region. This unfulfilled story gives it a distinctive place among similar buildings of its era.
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