𝑫𝒊𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒔𝒆𝒊𝒍𝒃𝒂𝒉𝒏
(copy of the plaque on the tower)
industrial monument
From 1906-1979, a cable car was in operation, which transported the basalt rock mined in the nearby quarry across the Büdinger Forest to the processing plant on the Wächtersbach railway site with a length of around 6.5 km.
This tower is the foundation of a mighty lattice mast. It was the support of the cable car, which initially spanned the nearby Litterbachtal over a distance of approx. 560 m at a height of 80 m.
Since the plant was shut down in 1979 due to insufficient transport capacity, it was demolished in 1980/81. Steel cables, masts and transport trolleys were scrapped. Only this tower remained standing.
Since demolition would have caused very high costs due to its particularly solid construction, it was decided to simply leave it standing.
Today, in the forest below the basalt quarry, it is a monument worthy of protection and is a reminder of a remarkable facility that has been tirelessly in service for over 70 years. The illustration -on one of my tour photos- shows the approximately 20 m high second cable car support on the southern side of the Littergrund.
A similar construction stood on the mentioned tower. On the opposite side of the valley, one can vaguely see the first support and above it the building of the basalt quarry.
(the illustration on the photo shows the cable car around 1910 and comes from the archive of HGV Wächetersbach)