Chinese Tower

The Chinese Tower (German: Chinesischer Turm) is a 25-metre wooden building resembling a pagoda at the Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany.

A reconstructed carousel originally dating back to the Biedermeier period is located near the tower, as well as numerous restaurants.

[2] The building is located north of the Monopteros and Ökonomiegebäude structures and a few metres east of the Oberstjägermeisterbach river.

The bus stop Chinesischer Turm is located immediately next to the tower and can be accessed by public transport and bicycles.

[4] The Chinese Tower was designed from 1789 to 1790 by Johann Baptist Lechner[5]: 46  on a proposal by Joseph Frey as part of the planned citizens' park, nowadays known as the Englischer Garten.

Nowadays many trees reach over the wooden structure, making it no longer usable as an observation deck.

[3]: 4  The tower still became popular because of the numerous restaurants located nearby,[9]: 182  and became known as the "heart of the Englischer Garten" according to writer Daniela Dau.

As a stylistic purist,[7]: 113  he wanted to avoid architectural staffages and limit the park to few, simple classic buildings.

[6][10] On 13 June 1944, near the end of World War II, the tower burned down in a white phosphorus attack.

[5]: 46  The tower is only accessible to the public on rare occasions, such at the 50th anniversary of its reopening on 6 September 2002, and only for groups up to 15 people at a time.

[3]: 4  In 1913 a new carousel with wooden animal figures (deer, ibex, camel, giraffe, horse, stork and flamingo) with old-fashioned coaches, carriages and sleds was opened.

Since 1977 the carousel, along with the Chinese Tower and the Englischer Garten, has belonged to the Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes.

This event comes from a habit of cooks, maids and servers to meet at the Chinese Tower on summer Sundays before the start of their workday,[3]: 4  to dance together.

[21] In the Biedermeier era from 1825 to 1848 the Chinesische Wirtschaft was located south of the Chinese Tower, with a bowling alley and a dance floor.

In 1830 Moritz Gottlieb Saphir wrote a poem called Der chinesische Turm about the life of people and the nature around the tower.

[7]: 168 The Chinese Tower inspired numerous artists already in the 18th century, using it as the primary or secondary subject in paintings and drawings.

Artists depicting the Chinese Tower have included Carl August Lebschée,[7]: 51  Johann Michael Mettenleiter,[7]: 82–83, 87  Fritz Schider,[7]: 94  and Richard Mahn.

The original structure from 1895
The winding stairway
Kocherlball 2012