WIEŻA BISMARCKA W ŻAGANIU

The Bismarck Tower in Żagań is an observation tower built according to designed by the German architect Carl Stahlberg, who actually comes from today's Jelenia Góra. It is located on the so-called castle hill. The cornerstone was laid under it on July 30, 1908, and the opening for visitors took place in June of the following year. It was made of erratic boulders and granite. An important decorative element is a lion resting above the entrance, above which there is the inscription "Bismarck". Originally there was a room dedicated to the memory of the iron chancellor, but in 1938 the building became a water tower, thanks to the incorporation of a water tank into it. As the name suggests, the tower was erected in memory of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck - the main author of the reunification of Germany in 1871, and construction began on the 10th anniversary of his death. It is one of 40 buildings of this type erected in Germany and Poland at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The building has survived to this day, and as one of the tourist attractions of the city of Żagań it was renovated in 2002, but is now slowly falling into disrepair.