Leaning Tower of Suurhusen

Suurhusen Church
Suurhusen Church
	Side view of the Suurhusen Church
Religion
Affiliation	Evangelical Reformed Church
District	Aurich
Year consecrated	14th century
Location
Location	Suurhusen, Germany
Geographic coordinates	53°24′48″N 7°13′24″E / 53.41347°N 7.22333°E
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Gothic (Brick Gothic)
Completed	1450 (tower)
Specifications
Height (max)	27.37 metres (89.8 ft)
Materials	Brick
Website
	www.kirche-suurhusen.de

The Leaning Tower of Suurhusen (German: Schiefer Turm von Suurhusen) is a late medieval steeple in Suurhusen, a village in the East Frisian region of northwestern Germany. According to the Guinness World Records it was at one time the most tilted tower in the world, although intentionally inclined towers such as the Montreal Tower far surpass it. The Suurhusen steeple as of 2007^[update] claimed to be the unintentionally tilted tower with the greatest angle of lean in the world, 1.22° more than Leaning Tower of Pisa.^[1]^[2]

History

The Brick Gothic church in Suurhusen is reminiscent of the old fortress churches. Originally, it was 32 m (105 ft) long and 9.35 m (30.7 ft) wide. In 1450 the church was shortened by about a quarter and the tower was built in the space. The tower leans at an angle of 5.19° (5° 11′), compared with 3.97° (3° 58′) for the Pisa tower after its stabilisation.^[3]

According to local historian Tjabbo van Lessen, the church was built in the Middle Ages in marshy land on foundations of oak tree trunks which were preserved by groundwater. When the land was drained in the 19th century, the wood rotted, causing the tower to tilt. The steeple was closed to the public in 1975 for safety reasons, and re-opened 10 years later after it was stabilised.