Schrotturm, Klagenfurt

The Schrottenturm stands on the Wörthersee’s western shore in the Klagenfurter district of Gurlitsch I. It is a sixty-seven-metre stone tower with a square base that narrows toward a flat pyramid roof. A relief by Johann Ritter von Friedel marks the mountain side of the shaft. The tower was designed by Johann Ritter von Rainer zu Harbach and completed in the 1820s. The tower’s brief life as an active site began when Emperor Franz I visited in 1830. After the BBU bought it in the late 19th century the structure was shut down. In 1927 the future mayor Adolf Wolf purchased the property, turned the tower into an observation deck and opened a café beneath it, naming the whole place Schrottenburg. The view from the top across the lake was once famous. The café closed in 1970 and the building has been decaying ever since. A fire in 2005 destroyed what remained of the restaurant. Today visitors reach the base along a lakeside path and look up at the tall, slender ruin. The relief on the mountain face and the square plan are still clear. The Wörthersee stretches eastward, its blue water framed by wooded hills. The empty shell of the former café lies at the foot of the tower, a reminder of the days when people gathered here for food and views.