Mystery Building 3: A Water Tower with Windows

This next mystery building feature has enquiring minds wanting to know what this unusual building is. This is located along the Zwickauer Mulde west of the town of Glauchau. The community of 24,000 is located near the Thuringia-Saxony border near the cities of Zwickau and Chemnitz, and prides itself on agriculture, religion, nature, serenity and open-mindness- at least that is what a person originating from there once told me a while back. It has two castles, a small town center which is very empty and quiet at lunch time, several schools (including an international one) and lastly, this unique but very unusual building.

Located at the South Dam and Bridge, this building is made of brick and features a decagonal design. It has six stories with windows lining up along every second side. Biking past there enroute to the bridge, there were some hunches I had that may have something to do with its unusual shape. They include:

1. It is a water tower.  Several German water towers have similar designs, including one west of Glauchau in the city of Jena near the train station Göschwitz. However, there are a couple arguments against this theory. The first is that Germany has more universally standardized water towers than the old ones, as today’s towers are mushroom shaped with the head having water storage. An example of this can be found in Halle (Saale):  

Some water towers are similar to a typical one found in the United States, like the one in Jackson, Minnesota for example:

The second argument against this theory has to do with the windows, where it is obvious that storm windows- or windows that are water resistant never existed at the time the Glauchau tower was built in the 1900s. Otherwise water would have leaked out, and the nearby residents would awake to flooding, caused by the release of water. Therefore, the first theory has to be taken out.

My next theory was that the building looked like this one in Iowa: a grain elevator or silo, used to store crops for use. This would make the best sense, given Glauchau’s location in the agricultural region, plus its crops bringing in revenue. The problem with this theory is the building is much smaller than even the house located in front of this grain elevator, thus allowing little room for storing crops. It is also doubtful that the brick siding would hold the crops without breaking apart, spilling them into the Mulde, and creating an environmental disaster that would reach the city’s history books. And of course, the windows would make this theory look ridiculous in writing.

So, my last theory would be either an apartment (flat) complex or nursing home. It would look practical given its appearance. Yet the building appears too small to house the residents, even if there was one apartment per floor (story). In addition, the building is fenced off, owned by a private agency, thus rendering this theory as false.

This leads to the question: What kind of building is this, when it has six stories with windows, but as small as a silo and on the same level as a water tower? Any ideas?

If so, please place them here in the comment section as well as in the Files’ facebook page, as it is open for the forum. Your comments can be made in German or English. If you wish to contact me directly, please use the form by clicking on this link.

Germany has a lot of unusual architectural works that have survived two wars and even the Cold War. While most of the records are lost for good, there are a few left that are significant for research, including this one. What do we know about it? The answer awaits from readers and locals, like you. 🙂

Link with Map of the Place:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Apmla5YpaNqA1S7aJmoo-krqYEo&usp=sharing

 

Author’s Note: Check out the other sides of Glauchau including the bridges by clicking on the following links below:

THE BRIDGES OF GLAUCHAU (SAXONY) by the Bridgehunter’s Chronicles

THE CITY OF GLAUCHAU (SAXONY) via Files’ facebook page