The tower, being of the oldest surviving wooden structures of this type in the world, is a particularly valuable monument. It is also connected with a historical German provocation, directly preceding the outbreak of World War II.

History

The establishment of the transmitter station complex at Tarnogórska Street was related to the growing role of propaganda after Hitler came to power in the 1930s. A dozen or so wooden radio towers were erected in Germany in that period, including one in the border city of Gliwice, used to retransmit the broadcasts of Radio Wrocław. The transmitter station at Tarnogórska Street replaced an older complex, built at Radiowa Street in 1925, which had a less powerful transmitter, extended between two iron towers. The new transmitter station complex, constructed in 1935, consisted three modernist buildings at Tarnogórska Street, including two residential buildings for the staff and a technical building with radio station equipment, and a wooden radio tower, 110 m high, situated on the west side. On 31 August 1939, the radio station complex was used as a tool for a famous German provocation, being part of a series borderline provocations coordinated by the SD with the help of the Abwehr. Their purpose was to burned Poland with responsibility for the outbreak of the war. In the post-war period, the tower served as a transmitter station of Radio Katowice. Later, it was used to jam Radio Free Europe.

Description

The transmitter station complex is situated in the north-western part of Gliwice, on the west side of Tarnogórska Street. In the eastern part of the complex, there are three free-standing modernist buildings made of brick, arranged so as to form the shape of letter “U” around a small yard with greenery. The two side buildings had residential functions; the technical building between them still contains the original equipment of the old radio station. Further, on the axis of the technical building, there is a wooden radio station surrounded by flower beds and a network of pathways, made in the recent years. The 110 m tall tower rests on four reinforced concrete foundation plinths. It is made up of components made of larch wood connected with brass fasteners. The tower, built on a square plan, consists of four profiled lattice sections having joint parabolic edges and four corner posts whose cross-sections vary depending on the height. The lattice sections have a two-cross-brace structure from the ground up to a height of approx. 80 m, with spandrel beams at the heights of cross-brace intersections and the cross-brace/corner post interface points, and higher — with spandrel beams only at the cross-brace intersections.

The site is accessible.

compiled by Agnieszka Olczyk, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Katowice, 12-11-2014.

Bibliography

• Ajdukiewicz A., Malczyk A., Właszczuk M., Brol J., Drewniana zabytkowa wieża radiostacji w Gliwicach, Wiadomości Konserwatorskie nr 14, 2003, s. 28-33.
• Pokorska-Ożóg E., Gliwicka wieża Eiffla, [w:] Wiadomości Konserwatorskie Województwa Śląskiego 3, red. G. Bożek, Katowice 2011, s. 73-82.
• Zabytki Sztuki w Polsce. Śląsk, red. S. Brzezicki, C. Nielsen, Warszawa 2006, s. 265.