Bismarck Tower, Observation tower in Wittmar, Germany.
Bismarck Tower is a stone observation tower in Wittmar rising to about 24 m, constructed from local Muschelkalk limestone and dolomite. From its viewing platform, visitors can see across the Lower Saxony landscape.
On 3 December 1898 the student body of Braunschweig's Technische Hochschule Carolo-Wilhelmina proposed a Bismarck monument at a delegates' meeting in Hamburg. A committee chose Wilhelm Kreis's prize-winning design Götterdämmerung for a site on the Asse, and the foundation stone was laid on 17 June 1900. The tower was inaugurated on 18 or 20 October 1901 at a cost of 38,000 marks; after the Second World War it passed to the state of Lower Saxony, which concluded a use and maintenance contract with the Heimat- und Verkehrsverein Asse in 1977.
The tower is one of the Bismarck columns built to the Götterdämmerung design by architect Wilhelm Kreis, chosen in 1899 by a committee of the Braunschweig student body. It is a Geopoint of the Geopark Harz – Braunschweiger Land – Ostfalen and gives its name to the geopark's Landmark 29, a station on a geological trail across the Asse ridge.
Reaching the viewing platform requires climbing stairs, as the tower has no elevator or ramp facilities for wheelchair users. Visitors should be prepared for physical effort and wear appropriate footwear.
The use of local Muschelkalk limestone and dolomite makes this tower a regional work that drew on materials from the immediate area. This shows how national monuments could also draw on local geological resources.
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