By 1890 there were plans for the building of a wooden tower on the Lemberg or its neighbour, the Oberhohenberg (1,011 m). The historical significance and the comfortable ascent argued in favor of the Oberhohenberg, however finally—particularly because of status as the highest mountain of the Swabian Alps—the decision was made to build on the Lemberg. In 1894 the first terrain inspection was made by one engineer and two master craftsmen. However construction was delayed, in particular because of scarce funds. In 1897 the original plans were dropped; a discussion over the building of a tower from stone or iron began. Since the cost of a stone tower was estimated at 24,000 marks, a substantially cheaper building of iron was chosen. A company from Freiburg was assigned. The funds came predominantly from donations.