You will be richly rewarded when you climb the 120 steps to the platform: From the observation tower on the 481-meter-high Stäffelsberg, you can enjoy one of the most beautiful views in the southern Palatinate far into the Rhine valley, across to Alsace, into the Palatinate Forest, and with good visibility, as far as the Black Forest and the Vosges Mountains.
The predecessor of today's tower, built in 1887, was demolished by the French military government in 1947, as the 15-meter-high tower built of sandstone had also served military purposes. Josef Knieriemen, a teacher living in Dörrenbach, had rendered outstanding services to the construction of this first Stäffelsberg tower.
The people of Dörrenbach were not satisfied with the loss of their tower: Near the old site, the Dörrenbacher Heimatbund erected a new, 21 m high round concrete tower in 1964. Almost half a century later, it was thoroughly renovated and embellished inside and out. The reopening of the tower was celebrated by the population in a large, joyous ceremony on May 1, 2012, exactly 125 years after the first foundation stone was laid.
