German Student Union
In 1899 (i.e. one year after Bismarck's death), Wilhelm Kreis created a fundamental tower design, known as "Götterdämmerung" ("Twilight of the Gods") for a competition by the German Student Union in the shape of a massive pillar of fire. This won the award by the competition's initiators and was built 47 times until 1911, thus becoming a standard form. In many places, however, there are variations of this design. The feature of these solid structures was the idea from the Student's Union that, on the top of all Bismarck columns, braziers would be built so that, on certain days, they could be lit in honour of former Chancellor, forming a network of beacons across Germany. Firing facilities were installed on 167 Bismarck towers. Because a common day of lighting the towers could not be agreed (Bismarck's birthday was on 1 April during the holidays), this idea did not take off. The Bismarck columns were mostly financed by donations (mainly from the middle class). As a building material, rock from the local area was used (for example, granite or sandstone). A total of 240 Bismarck towers were built as observation towers and beacons.