Leaning Tower of Suurhusen

The Leaning Tower of Suurhusen is always worth a stop. You can also visit the church, see
suurhusen-marienwehr.reformiert.de/kirchenfuehrungen-2946.html.

Afterwards, you can stop by at Café "Leaning Tower" and enjoy a cup of coffee and cake.

The leaning tower of Suurhusen is a church tower in the East Frisian village of Suurhusen, municipality of Hinte, which is considered to be the most inclined tower in the world. He belongs to the Protestant Reformed parish Suurhusen-Marienwehr.

At a height of 27.37 meters, the tower on the ridge has an overhang of 2.47 meters, which corresponds to an inclination of 5.19 degrees. With this information he stands as a record holder for not deliberately obliquely built buildings in the Guinness Book of Records.

The church tower was built in 1450 to the existing since the mid-13th century and previously towerless church with a floor area of 32 × 9.35 meters. It was built on a foundation of oak trunks over moorland.

In 1885 it was first noticed that the church tower tilts to the side. Due to the drainage of the surrounding lands, the groundwater level dropped, which led to the fact that the previously conserved in the groundwater oak logs began to modern.

In 1917, during the First World War, the bell from the western sound opening had to be handed over for a compensation payment of 4570 marks for the production of war material.

Around 1925, various measurements revealed an overhang of the tower by 1.13 m. Therefore, 1926 was removed as relief measure the 12 meter high roof riders. Nevertheless, the tower continued to tilt. As early as 1929, an overhang of 1.15 m was observed. In 1939 it was already 1.74 m and increased to 2.47 m by 1996 [3]. In 1975 the church was closed and the organ was sold.

From 1982, the tower was renovated in private initiative, the foundation was exposed and reinforced with concrete and steel. On October 14, 1985, the church was inaugurated with a festive service. The inclination, however, could not be stabilized, so that in 1989 further security measures were necessary. Since the mid-1990s, the sinking of the tower is considered held up.

Source: Wikipedia

Contact person:

Tjabbo van Lessen (04925-525)

Hurries Dirks (04925-1895)

Hermann Mennenga (04925-2430)

kirchenfuehrung-suurhusen@gmx.net

April - October:

Monday and Thursday by appointment.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

In July and August, additional tours also take place on Sundays at the times listed above, except during church services.
In addition, further appointments can be arranged using the above telephone numbers.
The tours are free; at the exit we ask for a donation to preserve the Leaning Church.
Source: Ev.-ref. Parish of Suurhusen-Marienwehr