The Leaning Tower of Suurhusen

This church tower is quite crooked

Image: Hamsterkiste

Suurhusen is a district in the municipality of Hinte, about 5 kilometres north of the city of Emden. While around 7,200 people live in Hinte overall, Suurhusen has just over 1,100 residents.

There has been a church in this village since ancient times. It was built in the first half of the 13th century and initially had no tower. The tower was added in 1450 and is now 27.37 metres high. Its walls are about 2 metres thick at the base, and it weighs more than 2,100 tonnes in total.

The tower was built on a foundation of oak trunks. For a long time, they supported its weight because they were submerged in groundwater. But as more and more of the surrounding peatlands were drained, the groundwater level fell. The oak trunks came into contact with air and rotted. The tower began to lean. Various construction measures have managed to stop it leaning any further for now, because otherwise it would eventually topple over.

At the roof ridge, the tower in Suurhusen overhangs by 2.47 metres. Its inclination is 5.19 degrees. This makes it considerably more tilted than the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, which has an inclination of only 4.43 degrees. In 2007, it was entered into the Guinness Book of Records as the most leaning tower in the world.

There are now two contenders, however. The Leaning Tower of Dausenau in Rhineland-Palatinate leans at 5.22 degrees, slightly more than the tower in Suurhusen. However, it is considered only a ruin. The Leaning Tower of Gau-Weinheim, also in Rhineland-Palatinate, could soon become the world’s most leaning tower. It leans at an angle of 5.38 degrees.

There is one thing the tower in Suurhusen will always remind us of: An inconspicuous sandstone block is built into its northwest corner. This stone marks one of the greatest disasters ever to affect East Frisia and the neighbouring Netherlands. On 1 November 1570, a huge storm surge swept in from the North Sea. The dikes, which were much lower and weaker then than they are today, broke, and salt water flooded deep inland. It rose to a height that is marked today by the sandstone block on the church tower in Suurhusen. Thousands of people drowned, along with their livestock. The land was devastated for a long time.

Tower and church of Suurhusen, viewed from the south

Image: Hamsterkiste

A sandstone marker on the church indicates the highest water level reached during the storm surge on 1 November 1570.

Image: Hamsterkiste

In 2007, the Leaning Tower of Suurhusen was entered in the Guinness Book of Records

Image: Hamsterkiste