page_title: Kahler Asten
section_title: Observation tower and hotel-restaurant
hierarchical_section_title: Kahler Asten / Observation tower and hotel-restaurant
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Astenturm (Selbst fotografiert, GNU) English: Asten tower, Kahler Asten, Germany
context_page_description: The Kahler Asten is an 841.9-metre-high mountain in the Rothaar range in the district of Hochsauerland, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a popular destination, receiving more than 500,000 visitors annually.
context_section_description: There is an observation tower on the summit of the Kahler Asten immediately next to the hotel-restaurant called the Astenturm (Asten tower). From the platform of the tower, which is 862 m above sea level (NN), there is a superb all-round view over the Rothaargebirge and other parts of the Sauerland. In very clear weather, even the Brocken mountain in the Harz (Saxony-Anhalt), 163 km away, can be seen without the aid of binoculars.
  Plans for a monument on the Kahler Asten go back to the Vormärz period in the first half of the 19th century. As early as 1843 King Frederick William IV of Prussia visited the Kahler Asten. At the time it was planned to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Treaty of Verdun by building an observation tower as a monument. This treaty sealed the division of the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms:  West Francia,  East Francia and Lotharingia and was seen as the beginning of the separate development of the French and German nations.  During the 1848 year of revolutions the Asten tower was the target of a demonstration for the aims of the March revolution and of German unity.
  Plans for a monument were not taken any further, however, until 1881. The foundation stone was laid on 22 June 1884 by the district administrator, Federath, in the presence of numerous honoured guests. In the same year the construction of a tower began.  The 25-meter-high skeleton fell victim to an autumn storm, however. Rumours of faulty construction could not be proven in the subsequent legal action.  By 1889 the district administrator was able to persuade private donors and the Westphalian provincial association to provide the means to rebuild the tower. It was opened in 1895.
  Since 1900 the tower has been an official monument of the Province of Westphalia. Since 1918 the tower has also been a weather station.
  The first renovations were needed in 1923 as a result of weather-induced metal fatigue. At the same time, the restaurant was built. New modification plans were started in 1930 and implemented in 1937. During the Second World War the tower was almost completely destroyed by a direct hit from artillery. The repair of war damage was not completed until 1955. In 1967 the damaged slate sheathing had to be replaced by copper. In 1995 an exhibition room was added. In 2004 ownership of the tower passed to Westphalia-Lippe Property Management, a subsidiary of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Council (Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe). A thorough renovation and refurbishment was then carried out by December 2005.
  After its restoration the hotel-restaurant opened its doors again in December 2005 and the Astenturm itself was re-opened on 20 March 2006. It now has a self-service area, a restaurant area and 17 double rooms with 34 beds.
caption: The Asten tower in winter
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