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Żagań
The Bismarck Tower in Żagań stands on the Castle Hill and belongs to a group of about a dozen such structures preserved in present day Poland. It was built in 1908 as a monument honouring Otto von Bismarck and remains one of the most recognisable objects in the town.
The stone structure is 22 metres high. Its massive, squat form is typical of Bismarck towers, erected across Germany at the beginning of the twentieth century according to similar patterns.
The entrance door faces the town and is guarded by a lion carved in granite. Above it a plaque with the name Bismarck is set into the wall. The tower itself remains closed to visitors, but external stairs lead to a masonry terrace about five metres above the ground.
For several decades the tower served a purely practical purpose, because from 1938 until 2002 it worked as a water tower supplying the surrounding buildings. That practical episode saved it from the fate of many similar structures demolished after the war.
Not far from the tower the remains of a stone gallows have survived, where death sentences were once carried out, a trace of the darker side of the town's history. A yellow walking trail leads to the tower from Kożuchowska Street. The visit is short, so it is easy to combine it with a tour of the palace and park in Żagań. The Castle Hill itself is covered with greenery today and remains a quiet spot for a short walk.
