Valentine’s Day 2020 - Impressions

Source: www.testturm.tkelevator.com

Première: Red illumination
On Valentine's Day this year, the test tower in Rottweil was illuminated in red, delighting residents and those passing by. You can find lots of great photos of fans and romantics alike on the internet at #testturm. What behind-the-scenes technology made it possible for the test tower to be illuminated in the colour of love on Valentine's Day? And what happens during bird migration times? Let’s take a look behind the scenes.

44 spotlights stage the test tower
44 spotlights, of the Powershine-RGBW model, perfectly stage the test tower year-round. RGBW stands for all the basic colours of light: red, green, blue and white. Any colour can be created by combining them. For the ring-shaped illumination of the test tower, the spotlights were arranged in two circles. Hess GmbH Licht + Form, from Villingen-Schwenningen, used 20 spotlights in the outdoor area and 24 spotlights in the outer ring directly encircling the tower. The luminaires were installed in special housings, which were necessary for both the outdoor area and the outer ring encircling the tower, as no additional poles were allowed to be placed.

Simple sounding technology – great performance
The maximum power per spotlight is 281 watts. In addition to the white-golden light, the spotlights in the RGBW variant are capable of creating any colour, such as the red tone on Valentine's Day. "Even if the whole thing sounds like a large and technically complex system, you only need a small control panel as large as an iPhone," explained Manuel Rapp, Key Account Manager at Hess GmbH Licht + Form on Valentine's Day.

You can find even more technical information on the Hess website.

What happens during bird migration times?
Animal welfare is a top priority at the test tower and was already an important criterion in the selection and installation of the luminaires during the planning of the lighting and was an elementary component of the building permit procedure of the city of Rottweil. The lighting concept is closely coordinated with the specifications of the expert report. During bird migration times, between 15 February and 15 May and between 01 September and 31 October, the illumination is only switched on in the evening for up to one hour after the end of the astronomical twilight/beginning of the astronomical night. Furthermore, the modern LED spotlights are much more insect-friendly than conventional spotlights. They also do not generate high temperatures in the vicinity of the light source. So, insects are not endangered when flying near these light sources.

A look back at 2019
With a height of 246 metres, the TK Elevator test tower is one of the most impressive and breathtaking constructions in southern Germany. The test tower symbolizes the engineering skill of thyssenkrupp – and it also represents a symbol for the city of Rottweil and complements the historical church and defensive towers from the middle ages. Since its opening in 2017, around 470,000 people have already visited Germany's highest observation deck – but the elevator test tower has only been illuminated since Valentine's Day 2019: In 2018, a happy couple tied the knot at an altitude of 220 metres, just in time for the official sunset at 5:44 p.m. and flipped the switch illuminating the test tower in a white-golden colour.