In front of you is a concrete tower that was meant to celebrate an emperor. The first version went up in 1898 on this hillside, the Gallitzinberg, to mark Emperor Franz Joseph I's 50th year on the throne. It was wooden. A storm knocked it down within months.
They tried again in 1899. This time they bought an iron tower from the Jubilee Exhibition in the Prater, paid 35,000 crowns, and hauled it up here. Mayor Karl Lueger opened it on July 6. For decades, it became the most visited viewpoint in the Vienna Woods. At 449 meters above sea level, you could see all the way to Schneeberg on clear days.
Then came World War II. The iron tower survived but fell into disrepair. By 1953, it was too dangerous. They tore it down.
What you see now is from 1956. Concrete this time. Sturdier. Climb the 183 spiral steps inside and you get the same view. The Vienna Woods stretch west. The city sprawls east.
Sources. Story: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Jubil%C3%A4umswarte, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jubil%C3%A4umswarte Photos: C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
