Kessler Tower

The Keßlerturm is an observation tower in Bernburg (Saale), the district capital of Salzlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt. It stands at the Friedrichshang in the Krumbholz recreation area within the town’s valley district. A narrow-gauge park railway serves the Keßlerturm stop, and visitors walk about 150 metres from there to reach the tower entrance. The tower owes its existence to entrepreneur Theodor Keßler, who in 1912 donated 12,000 Marks for its construction. Keßler chose both the site and the design. Before the permanent tower went up, builders erected a 20-metre wooden frame to test the view. City master builder Georg Kalbfleisch supervised the work, and the tower opened on 16 October 1913. After wartime neglect and vandalism left it in poor shape, restorations followed in 1950, 1982–83, 2003 and 2006. Since March 2007 the Lebenshilfe Bernburg association has run the tower, which welcomed 2,200 visitors in 2012. Inside the tower a plaque bears a poem by F. Blachny. The viewing platform offers sweeping views across the town and the Saale valley, and on clear days the Brocken, 75 kilometres away, appears on the horizon.