Oberkirche, Bad Frankenhausen

Church in Thuringia, Germany

51°21′34″N 11°06′20″E / 51.35944°N 11.10556°E / 51.35944; 11.10556LocationBad Frankenhausen, Kyffhäuserkreis, ThuringiaCountryGermanyDenominationLutheranPrevious denominationRoman CatholicArchitectureFunctional statusRuinStyleGothicCompleted25 April 1382SpecificationsNumber of towers1Tower height56 metres (184 ft)AdministrationDistrictKirchenkreis Bad Frankenhausen-SondershausenProvinceProtestant Church in Central Germany

The Oberkirche (pronounced [ˈoːbɐˌkɪʁçə], "Upper Church"), also Kirche Unserer Lieben Frauen am Berge ("Church of Our Lady by the mountain") or Bergkirche ("Mountain Church"), in Bad Frankenhausen, Thuringia, Germany, is a Gothic church building. Its 56-metre-high (184 ft) leaning tower has the largest overhang of all German towers at 4.6 m (15 ft) to north-east and is a landmark of the town.^[1]

Tower

Due to gypsum and salt leaching in the lower-lying soil, the top of the approximately 56-metre-high (184 ft) church tower, which has a Baroque dome with two lanterns, was tilted 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in) from the vertical (equivalent to 4.93°) in 2013.^[2]^[3]^[4] This makes the tower one of the most crooked towers in Germany. Measured by the overhang (deviation of the top of the tower from the perpendicular), it has the highest value of all German towers. It is more inclined than the Leaning Tower of Pisa which had an inclination of 3.97° in 2011.^[5]^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Seidler, Christoph (27 April 2010). "Schiefer Turm von Frankenhausen. Auf Salz gebaut". Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 25 May 2023.
^ "Schieflage" (in German). Förderverein Oberkirche Bad Frankenhausen e.V. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
^ "Sanierung der Außenmauer des schiefen Turms vor dem Abschluss". Thüringische Landeszeitung (in German). 17 June 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
^ "Subrosion. Der schiefe Turm von Bad Frankenhausen" (in German). Retrieved 11 May 2023.
^ Honnigfort, Bernhard (13 September 2011). "Echt schräg. In Thüringen steht der höchste schiefe Kirchturm der Welt. Nun droht ihm der Abriss". Berliner Zeitung (in German). p. 28.