Stuttgart, Germany - An artificial tornado in Germany's Mercedes-Benz Museum was recognized Monday by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's tallest man-made twister. The air swirl, created by air jets in the multi-storeyed gallery of the remarkable spiral building, does no harm. In fact it was installed to save lives if fire ever breaks out.
The museum, devoted to the history of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks, opened in May 2006 and has been seen so far by 1.3 million tourists in the city of Stuttgart.
Testers from Guinness, a British-based publisher, confirmed the museum's tornado was 34.43 metres high.
The 144 jets take seven minutes to get the 28 tons of air moving at top speed, creating a low-pressure column at the "eye" of the circulation to suck in smoke and carry it up to vents in the roof.
"This award involves human safety so it's very important to us," museum chief executive Michael Bock said as he received a Guinness certificate Monday.
The purpose is to stop suffocating smoke spreading into exhibition areas if fire ever breaks out. He said the system was unique worldwide and was specially designed for the building.
Carbon dioxide vapour fed into the tornado to make it visible shows it as a twisting column about 40 centimetres wide.
