Bachtel Tower, Communication and observation tower in Hinwil, Switzerland.
Bachtel Tower is a 75-meter-high steel lattice structure with an observation deck at 30 meters height offering panoramic mountain views. The steel framework allows visitors to gaze in all directions across the Zürcher Oberland region.
The current structure was built in 1986, replacing a wooden construction from 1873 and a steel structure from 1893. This evolution spans over a century of modernization and improvement of the observation facilities at this location.
The Bachtel is nicknamed the "Rigi" of the Zürcher Oberland, a name earned by its wide panorama praised in mid-19th-century travel guides. In 1849 the panorama artist Heinrich Keller drew a 360-degree view from Bachtel Kulm, and in 1851 Gottfried von Escher described the sight reaching from the upper Lake Zurich to the Sentis and the Bernese Oberland peaks.
Visitors reach the observation platform via an internal stairway that remains open throughout daylight hours all year round. It is best to visit during clear weather, as visibility extends farthest on sunny days.
The tower's predecessor, a steel lattice structure erected in 1893 after a fundraising drive by the Swiss Alpine Club's Section Bachtel, was dismantled in 1985 and re-erected seven years later on the Pfannenstiel, where it is known as the old Bachtel tower. Writer Emil Zopfi, who grew up in Gibswil on the eastern side of the mountain, compared it to the Eiffel Tower, ten times its height.
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