Bismarck Tower (location not on map)

360° Panoramavideo of Bismarck Tower

Bismarck Tower

Since May 2009, the Bismarck Tower is once again open to the public. It offers a splendid view of the town and its surroundings, and on a clear day visitors can see as far as the Alsatian Vosges and the mountains of the Palatinate. (photograph from 1927)

Opening Hours:

Generally, every third Sunday from April till September, but also at certain times indicated in the local press. If you would like to visit the Bismarck Tower at a different time, please call the Ettlingen Museum, tel. 07243/101-273. They will lend you the key for a deposit of €25. Visitors should be reminded that a maximum of 8 persons may stand on the platform at one time, and that they climb the tower at their own risk.

Further literature available on the Bismarck Tower:

Ettlinger Heft Nr. 33, March 1999. This brochure is available in the city archives at the palace.

A Brief History

In 1900, retired master forester Rudolf Widman purchased several small tracts of forest, totaling an area of 600m². He made the lot available for a group of students at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology who wanted to build a tower in honor of the “Iron Chancellor”, following the example of students at the universities of Freiburg and Heidelberg.

The 15-meter-high Bismarck Tower was dedicated with a torchlight procession on 21 June, 1901. The total cost of construction, 17,000 Reich marks, had been collected by the students through various collection drives and cultural events. It was designed by Karlsruhe architect Friedrich Ratzel, and built by master mason Julius Schottmüller from Spessart. The lot with the tower on it was donated to the city of Karlsruhe on 27 June.  In the early 20th century, the tower was used to celebrate the Summer Solstice.

The tower was given to the city of Ettlingen in 1977 after years of negotiations over the boundaries within the district of Karlsruhe. It was restored from the ground up in 1998. It was reopened to the public in 1999.

Translator: Chase Faucheux