Ludwig Tower (Bad Kissingen)

The Ludwig Tower in Bad Kissingen is located on the Staffelsberg, a hill in the German spa town of Bad Kissingen. The tower is to commemorate the House of Wittelsbach and, thus, named after Bavarian king Ludwig I of Bavaria. The tower belongs to the heritage registers of Bad Kissingen and has an entry in the List of Heritage Registers in Bavaria.

The Ludwig Tower Staffelsberg in Bad Kissingen.

History

It was the then Lord Mayor of Bad Kissingen, Carl Fürst, who came up with the idea of building the Ludwig Tower. After a construction period of two years, the tower's unveiling took place on 29 August 1883 under Theobald von Fuchs, Fürst's successor as the Lord Mayor of Bad Kissingen. In 1912, a heightening of the tower was planned but never carried into effect.

The tower became very popular as a look-out from the very beginning. However, it has meanwhile lost this status due to the many trees which have grown around the tower. Today, a training centre of the Diocese Union of the Pathfinders of St Georg from Würzburg is to be found next to the tower.

The Ludwig Tower has been in a ruinous state for several years and had to be closed for the public in 2008. In March 2012, the Town Council of Bad Kissingen announced that there is no possibility to finance a general reconstruction, which would cost €120,000. It is also out of question to demolish the tower as, on the one hand, there is also no possibility to cover the demolition costs of €40,000 and, on the other hand, the Ludwig Tower is landmarked.[1]

Architecture

The tower's ground area has a quadrate shape. The tower is made of sandstone and built in a cuboid-formed shape.

References
  1. „Auch Türme leben gefährlich“ – Article in the newspaper „Saale-Zeitung“, 20 March 2012

Further reading
  • Denis A. Chevalley, Stefan Gerlach: Denkmäler in Bayern. Stadt Bad Kissingen. Karl M. Lipp Verlag, München 1998, ISBN 3-87490-577-2, p. 36.

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