Gauss Tower

The Gaußturm is a lookout tower on the Hohen Hagen ( today 480 m above sea level. NN ) in Dransfelder urban forest in the district of Göttingen, in Lower Saxony.

Geography

The Gaußturm is at Hohenhagen approximately half the air line between Göttingen in the Northeast and Hann. Munden in the southwest. Just south of Dransfeld standing he can be reached by car or by bicycle, for example, from the main road three or walk across to the students path or during a hike in Dransfelder city forest.

Origin of the name

The tower is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, who made ​​the large triangle High Hagen- chunk - Big Island mountain one based on the National Survey of the Kingdom of Hanover.

Tower Description

Age Gaußturm

The Old Gaußturm was built after a design by the architect Kassel Ludloff and Stieger 1909-1911 under other basalt. He was 32.3 m tall and wore a covered observation deck at 22.17 m height and 528 m above sea level. NN. The construction costs amounted to 51,000 gold marks. The plot presented the city. Kaiser Wilhelm II had over 4,000 marks from the state treasury. The Göttingen Professor Eberlein donated a Gaußbüste made ​​of white marble for the Gaußzimmer.

However, the tower stood on the Hohenhagen directly above and to the north of the basalt quarry to almost 506 m. The basalt works but had committed in the lease of 1924, " the operating facilities must be designed so that a failure of tourism is avoided after the Gaußturm. " Over the years, however, the mining frontier moved ever closer to the tower. The district government had forbidden any further expansion of the quarry in the direction of the tower during the Second World War. At that time the preservation of the tower was higher valued than the war-related basalt. In the 1950s to 1970s buildings and monuments of the period around 1850 to 1918 were underestimated. The basalt plant was the largest employer in the city Dransfeld. So the economic interest in the basalt beneath the tower was taller than his preservation. Already in the 1950s, cracks occurred at the tower. The explosions continued anyway and the tower collapsed in 1963 due to the loosening of the soil a. Before the Administrative Court of Celle, there was a comparison that the costs had to bear the basalt works for a new building.

New Gaußturm

The new Gaußturm was designed by the architect Kassel Mathern built by the Brunswick company Lucks & Co. and completed in 1964. It is 51 meters high and was built on the other or eastern side of the mine made ​​of reinforced concrete with a 5 m thick tower shaft to 478 m above sea level. Because of construction defects of the concrete cracks over the entire height.

At 14.5 m tower height, the first (lower ) platform is 13 m in diameter and a panoramic restaurant. This is operated continuously since the end of the 1980s, as such, before this room was of exhibition space. After the change of use and conversion to the restaurant the lower platform also received fire safety reasons a separate outside entrance from the west side, which can be reached on a request artificially constructed hills and a stair construction. The possibility of access via the old main entrance by the elevator is but still, only the card, and kiosk sales no longer takes place there. Since September 2012, the restaurant is no longer open for reasons of economy for the daily operations and will be available only for special events.

The second (upper) platform in 45 m height is an open observation deck at 528 meters above sea level. NN. She was up to reach the restaurant closes on opening times and can be committed at the time only by appointment and registration of groups. The base of the tower reaches 6 m deep in the bedrock and also has 13 m diameter.

Next to the tower a small outbuilding was built, which was originally home to the Gaußzimmer. The Gaussian society Göttingen arranged it in September 1977 but was unsuccessful due to constructional defects and high humidity as completely unsuitable. The exhibits were therefore transferred to the local museum of the city Dransfeld. The tower was at that time known as the " disgusting cooking tube ", named after the manager of the basalt plant Klaus Koch. You already showed cracks after a few years. The new tower has never reached the tourist importance of the previous building.

Complete renovation in 2008

A required complete refurbishment of Gaußturmes was adopted by the city Dransfeld Council on 7 February 2007. In June 2008, the entire facade of the tower was renovated and completed by the end of September 2008. The costs amounted to around 450,000 euros gross.

Now the tower is illuminated in the evenings. The lighting concept comes from the Mündener light technician Uta von Schenck.

In the spring of 2009, the radio mast was removed and replaced by a new one in the autumn, for reasons of stability.

Data

Data of the (new ) Gaußturms:

• Construction time: 11 months
• Completion: September 1964
• Position Altitude: 478 m above sea level. NN
• Tower height: 51 meters
• Foundation: 6 m deep with 13 m diameter
• Tower shaft: 5 m diameter
• 1 (closed ) platform ( with panoramic restaurant to 14.5 m): 18 m diameter
• 2 (open) platform (Observation Platform, 528 m above sea level to 45 m. ): 13 m diameter
• Lift for a maximum of 8 people (travel time: 55 seconds )
• Fire escape: it leads with 225 steps from the ground floor over the first to the second platform

View opportunity

From the second platform ( observation deck ), among others, these goals are mainly in clear weather can be seen ( clockwise, starting approximately in the north):

• Solling
• Göttingen
• Göttingen Forest
• Resin
• Hoher Meißner
• Kaufunger forest
• Habichtswald Nature Park (including the Wilhelm Palace and height of Hercules can be seen )