Watchtower
A watchtower or Watchtower is a building that is used to monitor a specific area. These buildings made of wood, brick or concrete are one of the observation towers and offer sweeping views of the surrounding area.
Description
Watchtowers are usually occupied with guard. This may pursue purely civilian tasks, such as monitoring of forest areas due to fire hazard. More often, however, they are turned off and then usually armed to guard an object or a particular region strip. Generally have watchtowers on appropriate wireless or wired telecommunications equipment. Watchtowers of prisons are integrated normally into the prison wall.
Most heights are sufficient for the monitoring of objects less than 20 meters. Towers for the monitoring of forests, however, can have up to 50 meters high, as they should surpass all the treetops.
Towers can be designed as wood truss, steel truss and concrete towers, but also brick designs are possible.
History
In earlier times watchtowers were increasingly used to monitor areas on the one hand, but also places, especially in view of the possible risk of fire. The timely identification and reporting of such risks was particularly important for the prevention of fires.
In addition, many watchtowers were parts of a communication system. These towers were built in viewing distance. This could be transmitted over long distances by fire or smoke signals quickly messages. Such investment (" Specula " ), there was, for example, along the limes of the Roman Empire or in the form of Kreidfeuer in southeastern Austria at the time of the Turkish invasions.
In the late Middle Ages indipendent watchtowers were preceded by the enclosing wall of large cities in the view distance of signal characters. Such observation posts are called Wart towers or (field) Wait.
Examples
Locations of towers may be located:
- To prisons (mostly brick towers, with newer prisons reinforced concrete towers )
- At military sites (usually steel lattice towers )
- In water rescue, to open bathing and swimming pools
- In forest areas for forest fire prevention ( steel truss and steel -concrete structures )
Historic:
- At forts such as the fortress Königstein
- In concentration camps (mostly steel truss structures )
- At the former inner- German border (mostly concrete structures), see B- Tower
- With major industrial plants, especially former socialist countries (mostly concrete towers )
Monitoring storms, which are referred to as towers, are also found in ports and airports, see:
- Tower (Aviation)
- Harbor Tower
- Historical watchtowers
Observation tower at the East German border at Geysa (now Museum Point Alpha )
Abandoned post office towers of GSFG barracks Leipzig- Möckern
Watchtower in the Buchenwald Memorial, 1983
Reconstructed Roman Limes watchtower made of wood near the castle book.
Conservation, research and bat center Billmuthausen in Heldburger Landim former watch tower at Bad Colberg -Heldburg - Memorial Billmuthausen