Former Radar Site at a height of 816 metres (2,677 ft), it is the highest point in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as the highest point of German territory on the western bank of the Rhine.
This wooden lookout tower commemorates the spot where once stood one of the large radar towers. The old one was build in 1892, occupied by US Soldiers, in 1945, blown up in 1962 and rebuild in 1972.
Source plaque: (
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On this side stood three large radar towers and nearby the Erwin Bunker ( (
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Erbeskopf Search Radar - early 1960s: (
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Erbeskopf Search Radar - 1962: (
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Some old pics of the former radars: (
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Nowadays there a new radar is build, 200mtr from the old site, and the Bundeswehr (or NATO ?) monitors the airspace within a radius of 400 kilometers from the radar station on Erbeskopf.
This a HADR (Radar): (
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Wikipedia reads:
During a military exercise in 1892, sappers built a wooden observation tower on the mountain. In 1894, the Society for the Moselle, Hochwald and Hunsrück (today the Hunsrück Club) decided to construct a stone Emperor William Tower at the summit. This 24-metre-high tower was opened in 1901, 111 steps leading up to a viewing platform. In 1933 a kiosk was built at the entrance to the tower and a weather station installed at the top.
In late August 1939 the tower was closed to civilians, three more storeys were added, military signals equipment was installed and it acted as the communication centre for a radio relay link from Berlin to the Atlantic coast. The weather station was upgraded.
US troops occupied the Erbeskopf on 17 March 1945. They expanded its military facilities considerably and observed all military air traffic well into the territory of the Soviet Union. Three large radar towers and the Erwin Bunker with the wartime headquarters for Central Europe (AFCENT) supported NATO strategy as a multinational command post during the Cold War. The Emperor William Tower was blown up on 18 August 1961 because it obstructed the all-round military radar picture.
In 1971 the 11-metre-high, wooden Erbeskopf Observation Tower or "Erbeskopf Tower" (Erbeskopfturm) was built outside the out-of-bounds area. The tower is of wooden design with three platforms. Although its views are now restricted by trees, in places there are good views as far as the Eifel.
In the wake of the political easing of tension between NATO and the so-called Eastern Bloc states the significance of the listening equipment and electronic alarm systems on the Erbeskopf waned rapidly. Half a century after the end of the Second World War, American troops withdrew and the radar site continued in operation by the Bundeswehr.[4]
Until August 2004 the summit plateau was a heavily fenced-off, military out-of-bounds area. Since the removal of the barbed wire, most of the summit is now open to the public again.
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