The Bismarck Tower Committee for the construction of the tower was founded under the chairmanship of the mayor of Weißenfels, Wadehn, and the lawyer Junge. It was decided to build the tower on the Klemmberg. The foundation stone of the monument was laid on April 1, 1906, and the inauguration took place in the presence of 12,000 Weißenfels residents on August 25, 1907. In total, the construction costs of the 21 m (according to other information 19 m) high Bismarck Tower amounted to the then enormous sum of 21,800 Marks. Originally, only one Bismarck column was to be built, since the funds of the city administration were not sufficient. However, through a voluntary donation campaign supported by large parts of the citizens of Weißenfels, the necessary funds for a tower construction could be raised. After the foundation of the German Democratic Republic in 1949, the Bismarck relief and the four eagles were removed and the tower was named after the theologian, mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). After reunification, the tower was given its name back. The tower had been open to visitors until the early 1980s, when it was closed due to damage to the staircase. Since 2006, the Weißenfels Bismarck Tower has been undergoing renovation. The non-profit Weißenfels Bismarck Tower Association, founded on October 26, 2005, is responsible for this. The city of Weißenfels, major sponsors as well as citizens of Weißenfels support the restoration of the monument. In the course of the gradual restoration, the tower dome was completed in 2007, the 100th anniversary of the tower, and the tower was once again accessible. The four eagles removed during GDR times were returned to the tower in pairs in May 2010 and June 2012.

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