Germany observation tower
Helenenturm
You can see 63 km from here, looking north-east.
Calculating the panorama…
Drag to turn around. The relief is drawn 2.2 times taller so the ridges can be read; far ridges are paler, as in the real air.
The view
Up to 63 km away.
Calculated on the relief one degree at a time, up to 250 km, with the curvature of the Earth and the refraction of the air: what stands above the horizon from here.
Our own rating, from the relief and the climate only: open horizon (35 points), how far you see (25), sea and named peaks in view (20) and clear months (20).
- 63 kmFarthest ridgelooking north-east
- 99%Open horizonof the circle where the horizon is below your eyes
- 68Peaks in viewnamed summits that rise above the relief in front
- 163 mAltitudeabove the sea, at the highest point of the viewpoint
The 68 peaks you can name from here
From west to east as you turn around: height, distance and direction. Each one links to its guide on Peakyas, our mountain atlas.
From the relief only: buildings, trees and haze are not in the model. On a hazy day you see much less; 250 km is the limit of our calculation.
The sun
The best sunsets are in April and from August to September.
When the sun really disappears from this viewpoint — behind the relief or into the sea — and in which direction, on the 15th of each month, in local time.
- Jansouth-west10 min before the sea-level sunset23%
- Febwest6 min before the sea-level sunset26%
- Marwest6 min before the sea-level sunset31%
- Aprwest4 min before the sea-level sunset36%
- Maynorth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Junnorth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset29%
- Julnorth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset32%
- Augnorth-west4 min before the sea-level sunset33%
- Sepwest4 min before the sea-level sunset35%
- Octwest4 min before the sea-level sunset30%
- Novsouth-west6 min before the sea-level sunset24%
- Decsouth-west10 min before the sea-level sunset22%
- Time: when the sun goes behind the horizon you see from here.
- Minutes: how much earlier the relief hides the sun.
- %: share of clear sky that month (NASA, 2001–2020).
The highlighted months are the clearest. Golden hour starts about an hour before.
The place
Helenenturm.
Observation tower in Witten
Helenenturm is an observation tower in Germany, 163 m above the sea.
On a clear day the farthest ridge you can see is 63 km away, looking north-east.
68 named peaks rise above the relief in front; the most prominent is Dörenberg (331 m), 96 km away.
The horizon is open, below your eyes, over 99% of the circle.
The skies are clearest in April and from August to September.
Get there and stay
- Going upCheck the opening hours before you go: towers and decks close in bad weather.
- Zeltwiese KSC Wittencampsite · 0.8 km · 20 within 10 km
- Haus Oveneyplace to stay · 6.3 km · 189 within 10 km
- Wittennearest town · 1.4 km in a straight linePlaces to stay in WittenBooking.com · sponsored link↗
- Dortmund Airport (DTM)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 21 km in a straight lineCar hire at DTM airport (Dortmund)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
A guided tour, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
From above
The viewpoint and its surroundings.
The satellite image of the 6 × 6 km around the viewpoint, with what OpenStreetMap shows nearby.
Around, in OpenStreetMap
- 27other viewpoints within 5 kmViadukt Wengern and 26 more
- 14named peaks within 5 kmElberg, Brasberg, Harkortberg and 11 more
- 28marked trails within 3 kmWestfalenWanderWeg, Muttental Rundweg M2, Muttental Rundweg M1 and 25 more
- 295shelters and huts within 5 km
- 1,164car parks within 3 km
- 2visitor centres within 5 kmTourist & Ticket Service
- 88restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- 20campsites within 10 kmZeltwiese KSC Witten, Campingplatz Steger, Grillplatz Kahler Plack and 17 more
- 189places to stay within 10 kmHaus Oveney, Wald- und Golfhotel Lottental, Charlottenhof and 186 more
- cable car and funicular stations within 5 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet.
In our other atlases
What you see from Helenenturm, and what is near.
Everything around this viewpoint — mountains, water, forests, birds, caves and the night sky — in the family's atlases.
Peakyas53 mountains within 25 km
Forestyas6 forests and trees within 15 km
Darkskyas2 dark-sky places within 30 km
Cavernyas2 caves within 20 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, OpenStreetMap, GBIF). Links open when each site is online.
Photographs
The view, as people saw it.
Other viewpoints nearby.
Helenenturm
Germany
- 62Viewyas Score
- 63 kmFarthest ridge
- 68Peaks in view
- 163 mAltitude
Eugen-Richter-Tower
Germany · 12 km
- 68Viewyas Score
- 104 kmFarthest ridge
- 118Peaks in view
- 294 mAltitude
Toelle-Tower
Germany · 22 km
- 70Viewyas Score
- 109 kmFarthest ridge
- 223Peaks in view
- 340 mAltitude
Homert-Tower
Germany · 35 km
- 72Viewyas Score
- 124 kmFarthest ridge
- 332Peaks in view
- 549 mAltitude
Where these figures come from
| Name and type | Wikidata (Q1602068) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Sun | J. Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms |
| Peaks in view | Peakyas (Wikidata, CC0) |
| Panorama and altitude | Copernicus DEM GLO-90 / GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Clouds | NASA POWER (CERES SYN1deg, 2001–2020; MERRA-2) |
| What is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Sister atlases | Peakyas, Lakeyas, Forestyas, Darkskyas, Cavernyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, in seven languages.
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Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
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Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Visit caves
Every cave with its real depth and length: the rock above, the temperature inside all year, and how to visit.Visit dark skies
Where the night is still dark: the sky of every place, the Milky Way month by month, the Moon, eclipses and auroras.Visit 
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Every viewpoint with its real 360° panorama: the peaks you can name, how far you see and where the sun sets.You are here
birdwatching
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