Water Tower

At the end of the 19th century with the urbanization and the upswing of beach culture, some infastructural project were needed at Siófok. The community created a tender to solve the drinking water situation. In 1912 Árpád Guth and Jenő Gergely designed and built the 41 meter high Water Tower at the then called Darányi square, that became the symbol of the town.

From 1935 storm warning system operated inside besides the fire and smoke alarm system, and also a trunk station. During the World War II. the electronic line –that ran the suction pumps- and the Tower got injured. German gunnery used it as a post and the Tower got hit by a soviet ordnance slug. At that time people could use water only for 2-2 hours a day and only in street-level buildings. The damages were repaired only by 1946. 

From the 1950’s the need for water systems grew, so it had to be expanded. DRV company built a 5000 m3 water cistern in Balatonkiliti so the Tower in Siófok, as a water supplier became needless. In 1992 the local Tourinform office moved in, the terrace was used as a look-out point. 

By the time the Tower became 100 years old, a serious reconstruction was inevitable and also to find a new function for it. By the plans of Pápay Construction company, the Tower was renovated in 2010/2011.

The planner, who was a local, György Pápay created a plan that kept the Water Tower mostly as it originally was. The windows were changed to bigger ones, the concrete vat was removed and instead of it they created a two-floor place and between these a winding staircase. At the top of the Tower, they made a café and look-out tower. In the middle of the building there are two panoramic elevators. They put up tempered glass to the look-out point, so nothing bothers the breathtaking view. At the bottom, the Tower was expanded with a tempered glass structure.

The renovated Water Tower opened in june 2012, when it became 100 years old. It is under cultural heritage management. It’s a part of the town’s history and it’s an iconic buliding of it.

After purchasing the entrance ticket, one of the two panoramic elevators the the visitors up to the top of the tower. The area that can be visited is divided into three floors. The lowest floor has a panoramic balcony, which can be reached on a few stairs. On the middle floor, which is reachable by the elevator, there is a memorial exhibition about the famous Hungarian sculptor Imre Varga, who was born 100 years ago. On the upper floor, which can be reached on a few stairs, there is a local history exhibition which presents the colourful history of the city, local people and tourists who visited Siófok during the last few centuries.