Wittelsbacher Tower

Geschichte

The Wittelsbacher Jubiläumsturm is a look-out at the "Scheinberg", a hill which is 400 metres high and located in Arnshausen, a quarter of the German spa town of Bad Kissingen. The tower belongs to the heritage registers of Bad Kissingen and has an entry in the List of Heritage Registers in Bavaria.HistoryIn 1903, physician Dr. Wendelin Dietz inspired constructing a new look-out as the outlook from the top of the Ludwig Tower over Bad Kissingen turned out to be no longer sufficient. Dr. Dietz was the chairman of the Wittelsbacher Association, which was founded for the purpose of building the tower. This association was in favour of Bismarck and the Empire and competed in a certain way with the Wittelsbacher Association, which, even after the Unification of Germany, regarded Bavaria to be a sovereign kingdom and built the Bismarck Tower in Bad Kissingen in 1914.The plans for the construction of the tower were made by Magistrate Council Carl Krampf; the lion sculpture on the top of the tower was designed by Valentin Weidner. The total costs amounted to 27,000 German gold marks.As, in 1906, the Kingdom of Bavaria was facing its 100th anniversary and in 1880, already, the 700th anniversary of the House of Wittelsbach had taken place, it was decided to name the new tower the Wittelsbacher Jubilee Tower. The foundation stone was laid on 1 January 1906. The inauguration on 15 September 1907 was attended by, amongst others, Bavarian Prince Regent Luitpold and the District President of Lower Franconia and Aschaffenburg, Dr. von Müller.