German Church - World's Most Lopsided Building

German Church - World's Most Lopsided Building

A German church steeple has knocked the leaning tower of Pisa from the Guinness Book of Recordsas the world's most lopsided building. The tilting tower in the German village of Suurhusen applied in June for the title andhas now officiallybeaten the famous landmark in Pisa. Guinness Book of Records confirmed the award after officials measured it leaning at a 5.19 degree angle compared to only 3.97 degree angle at which the tower of Pisa leans. Olaf Kuchenbecker of the Guinness World Records office in Hamburg said: "It is a world record." The church was built in middle of the 13th century but a 90ft tower was added in 1450. The tower was built on wooden foundations and the combination of the oak wood foundations and wet soil has caused the tower to slowly lean to one side over the years. Several attempts to stop the tower from leaning any further have been made since 1982, and it was eventually stabilised in 1996. The church is still in use and also offers guided tours but church officials are appealing for donations to help maintain the building. The church inside... Suurhusen Suurhusen, north of Emden in East Frisia and in former times also called Zuiderhusen (Süderhusen) was named in part, probably due to close proximity to Osterhusen and Westerhusen. Suurhusen is mentioned in documents from 1255. A stone with the year 1004 and ceramic objects found in the old church tower point to the fact that the village is much older. Suurhusen currently has about 1200 inhabitants and is administered by the municipality of Hinte.

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