Ludwigs-Tower, Observation tower on Staffelsberg hill in Bad Kissingen, Germany.
The Ludwigs-Tower is a 25-metre sandstone observation tower on the Staffelsberg in Bad Kissingen, built on a square ground plan in the form of a cuboid. It was named after King Ludwig I of Bavaria in memory of the House of Wittelsbach and inaugurated on 29 August 1883.
The tower was built between 1881 and 1883 under the direction of Mayor Carl Fürst and named in honor of King Ludwig I. Its construction coincided with Bad Kissingen's growth as a major spa destination.
The tower reflects the royal connections that shaped Bad Kissingen as a fashionable spa destination in the 1800s. It shows how the town expressed its importance through architecture and its ties to Bavarian nobility.
The tower has been closed to the public since 2008 because of its structural condition, and the 2012 town council decision left both a €120,000 restoration and a €40,000 demolition unfunded. Visitors can only view the sandstone structure from outside; the training centre of the Würzburg diocesan branch of the Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg stands directly beside it.
The tower also carries a radio transmitter: it broadcasts Radio Primaton on 90.5 MHz at 100 watts. A 1912 plan to raise the tower was never carried out, and in 2012 the town council put the cost of a full restoration at €120,000, against €40,000 for demolition.
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