The Dresden architect Oscar Menzel won a 1908 competition for the construction of a large water tower in the suburb of Winton . The nearly 65 m high tower from 1912 to 1915 was directed by Fritz Schumacher built and commissioned during the First World War in operation.
Schumacher, the architectural tradition of the 19th Century still largely arrested, tried to combine the forms of Wilhelmine architecture with the modern art deco design. The nearly 65 meter high tower with a nearly 30-meter wide frontage on the ground floor is surrounded by an elegant gallery, which is accessible from the eastern face side via two flights of stairs. The unusual height resulted from the required function to include the water tower in the network of high-pressure zone. The vessel with 23 meters diameter was nearly 63 meters above sea level and took 3000 cubic meters of water
The planetarium was opened in April 1930. The core of the museum is a projection dome with a diameter of 20.6 meters. Here the visitor can observe past and future space-experience, eclipses, auroras, meteors and space effects. 2002/03, the Planetarium in 15 months has been extensively remodeled with many technical innovations. In addition, early 2009's digital projection system has been revamped.
I saw the event "Planet Erde: Alarmstufe Grün (3D)". This was actually the first 3D film I had ever seen, and to be honest, I found it difficult to watch. As I do not watch TV or film at all, the motion in combination with the tranquility of the images hypnotized me into immediate sleep. I could not stay awake. However, when I removed the glasses, I found it a bit easier. Certainly, an excellent theater, nonetheless.
After the show, I walked to the nearby biergarten, the Landhaus Walter, the largest of its kind in Hamburg.
