Jübergturm, Observation tower in Hemer, Germany.
The Jübergturm is an observation tower in Hemer featuring five viewing platforms built from 240 squared timber beams of Siberian larch wood that rise to a height of about 24 meters (78 feet). The platforms are reached via stairs or a zigzag path and provide outlooks across the surrounding landscape.
Planned for the 2010 State Garden Show in Hemer, the tower went through several designs: a concrete version by Swiss architects Beat Müller and Katharina Schewe was rejected on nature-protection grounds, and a citizens' vote narrowly favoured a smaller wooden variant. For financial reasons the second-placed design was built from January 2010 by Stuttgart architects Birk and Heilmeyer with engineers Knippers Helbig. It was completed on 16 April 2010 and formally handed over to the people of Hemer on 5 September 2010.
The tower uses a special construction method based on hyperbolic grid shell principles inspired by Russian engineering. Visitors can experience this modern building technique while climbing and understand how these geometric forms work.
The tower is reached from the former Blücher-Kaserne grounds via a stairway called the Himmelsleiter or via a barrier-free zigzag path, so wheelchair users can reach the top. Inside, five flights with 125 steps lead to the uppermost platform at 21.88 metres. The tower stands at 293.7 metres above sea level, about 565 metres south-southwest of the Jüberg summit.
The tower is described by its architects as the first true timber hyperboloid, in which only the outer lattice of 240 squared larch beams carries the load. The number of upward beams decreases from platform to platform, so the structure grows more open toward the top.
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