The Gliwice Radio Tower is a transmission tower in the Szobiszowice district of Gliwice, Upper Silesia, Poland.
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It is an 118 m (387 ft) high (including the 8 m (26 ft) long spire on its top) construction of impregnated larch wood framework and bronze connectors. The tower was nicknamed "the Silesian Eiffel Tower" by the local population, although the similarities are minor. Gliwice Radio Tower has four platforms, which are 40.4 m, 55.3 m, 80.0 m and 109.7 m above ground. The platform on its top has a size of 2.13 x 2.13 m. For access to its top, there is a ladder with 365 steps.
As most timber transmitters have been dismantled, Gliwice Radio Tower is probably the tallest remaining wooden structure in the world.[1] It was originally designed to carry aerials for medium wave broadcasting, but the transmitter is not in service any more as the final stage is missing. Today, the Gliwice Radio Tower carries multiple transceiver antennas for mobile phone services and a low power FM transmitter on 93.4 MHz.
The tower was erected from 1 August 1934 as Sendeturm Gleiwitz (Gleiwitz Radio Tower), when the territory was part of Germany. It was operated by the Reichssender Breslau (former Schlesische Funkstunde broadcasting corporation) of the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft radio network. The tower was modeled on the Mühlacker radio transmitter, it replaced a smaller transmitter in Gleiwitz situated nearby on Raudener Straße and went in service on 23 December 1935.
On 31 August 1939, the German SS staged a 'Polish' attack on Gleiwitz radio station, which was later used as justification for the Invasion of Poland. The transmission facility was not demolished in World War II. From 4 October 1945, until the inauguration of the new transmitter in Ruda Śląska in 1955, the Gliwice transmitter was used for medium wave broadcasting of the Polish Public Broadcasting Company. After 1955, it was used as a jammer against medium wave transmitters broadcasting Western Polish-language programmes, e.g. Radio Free Europe.
Following the decision of the City Council taken on 2 December 2004, the radio tower is a museum on radio history and visual arts, located in the former radio transmitter building.