The Gliwice Radio Station is one of the most remarkable technical monuments in Poland and Europe. It stands out for the impressive scale of its construction and its rich history. The wooden antenna tower with a height of over 111 metres was built in the 1930s and remains the highest structure of its kind in the world to this day.
The world’s tallest wooden tower
Construction of the mast in Gliwice was completed in 1935. The structure was made of extremely durable Siberian larch, resistant to pests and harsh weather conditions. Significantly, no typical steel nails were used during the work; instead, all elements were connected only by brass screws. The tower, shaped like a slender pyramid, was designed to allow for the suspension of a vertical antenna and thus provide greater transmitting power. As a result, the radio signal broadcast from Gliwice reached not only the whole of Europe, but even North America, which was a great technical achievement at the time. Although other facilities of this type were built in the 1930s, the Gliwice mast is the only surviving wooden broadcasting tower of its class and remains a unique document of the engineering thinking of the time.
Gliwice provocation
The history of the radio station is inextricably linked to events that became one of the symbols of the beginning of World War II. on 31 August 1939, German SS men carried out a diversionary action on its premises, pretending to be an attack by Silesian insurgents. The aim was to create the impression that Poland had committed aggression against a German radio station. During the action, František Hanioka, a Polish Silesian who is today considered the first casualty of the war, was abducted and murdered. The attackers also broadcast a short message in Polish using a so-called storm microphone, used for local meteorological warnings. It could not be picked up in Berlin as planned, but the incident was nevertheless widely publicised in the German press and used by Nazi propaganda as a pretext to invade Poland.
Gliwice radio station – post-war fate
After the end of the war, the radio station did not lose its importance. In the early years it was used by the Polish Post Office, Telegraph and Telephone, and later served as a broadcasting site for Polish Radio Katowice. During the Cold War, it also served as a jamming centre for the signal of Radio Free Europe. In 1956, the production of broadcasting equipment began here, and the site itself retained its importance over the following decades. It was not until 2002 that the site of the radio station was taken over by the local government of Gliwice, and three years later it was handed over to the management of the Gliwice Museum. Since then, the facility has functioned as a branch of the museum and serves as a place of remembrance and historical education. Of particular importance is the preserved equipment from the time of its completion, including equipment manufactured by Lorenz, Telefunken and Siemens & Halske, which allows one to see what the broadcasting station looked like almost a century ago.
Historic complex in Gliwice
However, the Gliwice radio station is not only the famous, impressive mast. The complex also includes three accompanying buildings: a technical facility and two residential houses. All of them were built in the style of historicist modernism and have retained their original appearance to this day. Particularly valuable is that authentic equipment has survived in the technical building, as well as the microphone that was used during the Gliwice provocation. The entire architectural ensemble has remained almost unchanged since its construction and is a consistent example of the buildings associated with the development of radio broadcasting in the interwar period.
The Gliwice Radio Station and its heritage
The Gliwice Radio Station was included in the list of Historical Monuments and is part of the European Heritage Trail. The facility symbolises the dramatic events leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War, while also reminding us of the extraordinary achievements of technology. In 2022, a contract was concluded for the preparation of a project to renovate the valuable complex, which involves creating a modern exhibition space in the technical building, while preserving the original character of the site. This will give the radio station a chance to become an even more attractive point on the map of Silesia, while remaining a testimony to the development of technology and the drama of political events of the 20th century. More about the project HERE.
Source: zabytek.pl
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