Belgian military air traffic tower

Cologne, North Rhine – Westphalia
Germany

Status: 1-BLACK – It’s been irreparably destroyed

Description of the Site

The Belgian Tower was a one-story building and had an edge length of about ten by ten meters. On top of the tower was a large conical glass cube built, which allowed a panoramic view. The entrance had a canopy, which made it possible to stand outside even in bad weather.  An architect who also works for ICOMOS described the building as worth preserving.

In the 1950s, an air traffic tower was built on the northern edge of the British and Belgian military airfield Butzweilerhof to coordinate the air traffic of the Belgians and the British Royal Air Force. From here, the first gliding world championship was conducted in Germany after World War II in 1960, which is why it is also an international sports monument.

The Threat

Possibly other interests of an unknown investor the city of Cologne would like to sell the property.  Disinterest of the politics and city administration Cologne in its own city’s history.

Efforts to Save Belgian military air traffic tower

Arguing for its importance as an international sports monument, the application for monument protection was submitted in 2013. Due to the very bad reputation of the Untere Denkmalbehörde (it refused protection of various historic buildings in Cologne etc.) a friend and I sent our application for monument protection directly to the Obere Denkmalbehörde. My application included not only the Belgian Tower, but also the aircraft halls and the last remaining part of the runway of the British Royal Air Force. I sent my application for monument protection directly to the Obere Denkmalbehörde. However, the request for the protection of the monument was rejected. The responsible monument conservator Dr. Künstler-Brandstädter justified the cancellation of the Belgian tower and did not mention these two other objects (runway and aircraft barracks) in her answer. A popular tactic of the Cologne administration to bury unpleasant matters.

Additional Info

Near Cologne, there is the museum village in Kommern that consists of historic buildings from the area around Cologne (historic houses are reassembled here and then opened up for visitors). My request to include the Belgian tower as part of the museum was rejected because it would not fit into the overall concept of the museum village. Link to the museum: www.kommern.lvr.de/de/startseite/startseite.html

Who Should Be Held Accountable

Dr. Karen Künstler-Brandstädter
Stadtkonservator/in – Amt für Denkmalschutz und Denkmalpflege der Stadt Köln
Willy-Brandt-Platz 2
50679 Köln
Telefon: 0221/221-24743
Telefax: 0221/221-22293
E-Mail: Karen.Kuenstler-Brandstaedter@stadt-koeln.de
Internet: www.stadt-koeln.de

Source Links


www.luftfahrtarchiv-koeln.de

Image Gallery

* All photos courtesy of Werner Mueller.

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