Observation tower Großer Feldberg, Observation tower in Schmitten im Taunus, Germany

The Observation Tower Großer Feldberg is a 40-metre tower on the 879-metre summit of the Großer Feldberg in the Taunus. Its shaft is clad in grey rectangular shingles and pierced by four narrow vertical slit windows; the top widens into an overhanging gallery with a railing and dark vertical supports beneath a flat roof. Below the shingled shaft is a horizontal timber-clad section with one small two-pane window, and a red-and-white striped mast stands to the left. An internal staircase leads to a glazed viewing platform.

The tower was initiated by the Taunusklub, founded in 1868 as the Bund der Feldbergläufer, one of Germany's first hiking clubs. Its foundation stone was laid on 7 July 1901 in the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and it opened on 12 October 1902, paid for by 100,000 Mark in donations. On 2 December 1943 a German military aircraft struck it in fog and the wooden cladding burned out, killing eleven people; it was rebuilt in 1949 with a radio antenna on top.

The tower grew out of the 19th-century hiking movement: Friedrich August Ravenstein's commission planned a hostel and lookout for walkers, and in 1868 the Bund der Feldbergläufer, today's Taunusklub, formed in the Feldberghaus. The club still runs a youth and hiking hostel with a kiosk in the tower base, and a plaque for Sofie Müller, the keeper's wife killed in the 1943 crash, was mounted here in 2017.

The tower is best reached on foot via hiking trails that wind through the mountainous terrain and connect from various starting points in the region. It is advisable to wear sturdy footwear and allow adequate time for the climb, especially if you plan to spend time enjoying the views from the top.

The tower's antenna carrier, added when it was rebuilt in 1949, served the Hessischer Rundfunk FM frequency and is now kept as a reserve facility. A plaque on the tower commemorates Sofie Müller, wife of the tower keeper, who died in the 1943 crash of a military aircraft into the wooden tower; her grave slab was moved here in 2017.