Bismarck tower

[1][5] Quite a few of these towers, including all 47 based on Wilhelm Kreis's Götterdämmerung design,[6] were built as so-called Bismarck Columns (Bismarcksäulen) or were converted into them.

[4] One year after Bismarck's death, German Studentenverbindung fraternities chose one of the designs submitted by the architect Wilhelm Kreis in an 1899 architecture competition.

In manifestation of the Bismarck cult, they were built in various styles in locations across the German Empire, including its colonies in New Guinea (Gazelle Peninsula), Cameroon (near Limbe) and Tanzania, as well as in areas of Europe that, at the time, were part of Germany, but now lie within the borders of Poland, France, Denmark or Russia.

Every Bismarck tower was intended as a beacon, with their braziers lit on specified days in honour of the former chancellor to commemorate his achievement in unifying Germany in 1871.

Though most towers included firing installations, plans for a nationwide beaconing failed, and many local initiatives chose deviating designs.