Pöhlberg Observation Tower, Observation tower on Pöhlberg Mountain, Annaberg-Buchholz, Germany

Pöhlberg Observation Tower is a 35-metre white tower on the summit of the Pöhlberg, a basalt hill above Annaberg-Buchholz. It is built of masonry with a viewing platform reached by stairs, and a hotel and mountain inn stand at its foot. The tower is a listed cultural heritage monument.

The Pöhlberg tower was erected in 1896, the year the Annaberg branch of the Erzgebirgsverein pushed the project forward as mountain tourism grew in Saxony. It replaced an earlier wooden viewing structure on the summit. The stone tower has since served as the mountain's landmark and was placed under heritage protection.

The tower's name comes from the Pöhlberg, the basalt hill above Annaberg-Buchholz. Since 1896 it has drawn walkers from the town and the surrounding Erzgebirge, and the mountain inn beside it has long been a stop for hikers on the ridge paths. Local mining history is bound up with the hill, where ore was worked in earlier centuries.

The tower stands on the Pöhlberg summit at 832 metres, reached from Annaberg-Buchholz by the road to the summit or on marked hiking trails through the Erzgebirge forest. A car park and a mountain inn sit directly below the tower, so the climb can be combined with a rest stop. The summit area is open year-round, but paths can be icy in winter.

The Pöhlberg is a basalt mountain, and its summit area shows weathered basalt outcrops rather than the hexagonal columns described in older accounts. The tower stands on the highest point of the mountain at 832 metres, and the rock below the viewing platform is the same volcanic basalt that quarrying once worked on the slopes.