Wikipedia
The Wartturm in April 2001
The Wartturm in April 2001
The Wartturm is a rock tower in Saxon Switzerland in East Germany near the famous Bastei rocks. It stands high above the Elbe, just below the town of Rathen and dominates the view from the Bastei and Rathen looking downstream.
On 22 November 2000 the Wartturm was the scene of one of the most spectacular rockfalls for decades in Saxon Switzerland. About a third of the rock broke off and some 450 m³ of sandstone with an estimated weight of 800 tonnes crashed over 60 to 75 m into the valley. It was the largest quantity of falling rock since a slide in 1961 on the Bienenkorb, which did not fall from such a great height. The cause was suspected to be progressive weathering of a fissure running through the rock. A climber, who was staying in a hut below the rock, was uninjured because the boulders landed a few metres away from the hut.
Despite the loss of large sections of rock the Wartturm continues to be a popular climbing peak in the Saxon Switzerland Climbing Region.
As a result of the rockfall at the Wartturm, the State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology of the Free State of Saxony has begun test drilling to investigate more closely the causes of rockfalls and the long term progress of weathering of sandstone in Saxon Switzerland.
The Wartturm ("watchtower") is an observation tower in the Wiehen Hills on the Wurzelbrink, a wooded hill that, at 319 metres, is the second highest in this hill range. The tower stands on the territory of the town of Lübbecke. The stone tower was built in 1857 by the barons (Freiherrn) of Bussche-Münch from Benkhausen and was completely renovated in 1996. The tower was erected in response to the increasing gymnastics and hiking movement in Germany at that time. During the Nazi era and the Second World War the tower acted for a time as a training area for the Hitler Youth as well as an observation point, for which purpose it had been increased in height by the addition of a wooden superstructure. In 1986 a radio competition took place at the Wartturm. In the early to mid-1980s a very high transmission mast stood next to the tower, that was significantly higher than the tower itself and, unlike the Wartturm, could be clearly seen from Lübbecke. The uninformed often say that the tower is linked to the medieval castle of Reineberg because of its castle-like appearance but are then often surprised to find that it is a product of the Modern Age.
The Wartturm has since become the landmark of the traditional Wartturm Run (Wartturmlauf). This fun run takes place annually in June, beginning in the centre Lübbecke, is 13.9 kilometres long and climbs a total height of 346 metres.