Kunstturm, former water tower in Weimar, Germany

The Kunstturm is a former water tower at Bahnstraße 1 in Weimar's northern suburb. Its octagonal tank rests on a round base, and the tower rises 35 meters. The tank held 400,000 liters, and the tower now has four floors used as a social building, with holiday apartments in the annex.

Planned in 1911 alongside the new Weimar railway station, the tower was built from 1912 to 1916 and held 400,000 litres of water. For over sixty years it produced pressurised water for railway operations, fed from the municipal supply network. It lost its function with the electrification of the railway. In 2004 the artist Jeremias Freesemann converted it into an art and event venue, and in 2020 it was rebuilt again.

The tower carries a large inscription facing the railway tracks: the city name WEIMAR in white capital letters on a red field. In 2004 the artist Jeremias Freesemann converted the former water tower into an art and event venue. Opposite, at Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 58, a ground-floor meeting place for homosexuals existed during the Weimar Republic; the Bund für Menschenrecht was founded in Weimar in 1922.

The site sits near the railway station and is easy to reach on foot. Visitors can attend exhibitions and events or stay in the apartments that are part of the complex.

The tower and its adjacent overnight building are both on Weimar's list of cultural monuments. Across the street, at Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 58, a ground-floor meeting place for homosexuals existed during the Weimar Republic; the Weimar chapter of the Bund für Menschenrecht was founded in 1922, and the venue was closed and watched after the Nazi takeover.