Wasserturm Hamburg-Bergedorf

The former water tower in Hamburg-Bergedorf stands on the edge of the villa district on Pfingstberg, a rise above the Bille river. From the residential area only its tip appears, because the buildings of the Luisen-Gymnasium largely hide the 31-metre structure. The tower was designed by the town’s master builder Carl Friedrich Dusi and completed in 1903 in the eclectic style of Historicism. Its shaft rises in red brick, narrowing toward the top, and the ground floor shows a neoclassical entrance portal with rustic decoration and the Bergedorf coat of arms above. Two further storeys are separated by a brick frieze, and below the tank section a row of brick consoles with plastered panels runs round the tower. The upper section projects sharply and is rendered white, lit by a ring of narrow windows with stucco arches. The slate-covered dome ends in an observation gallery enclosed by wrought-iron railings, reached by a lantern stair. Inside, an external stair winds up the brick shaft to the drip floor, where the original Intze-1 tank once held 230 cubic metres of water. A central cylinder contains a spiral stair that passes through the tank to the gallery. The water container survives, and the new owner converted the head into two semicircular rooms while preserving the historic shell.