Berlin TV Tower – Berliner Fernsehturm

Berlin TV Tower – Berliner Fernsehturm, is a must-see for any tourist in Berlin. There is no way around it. The Berlin TV tower on Alexanderplatz in Berlin-Mitte is the highest building in Europe that the general public can see, thus it makes sense. In addition, the city may be seen in all directions from the observation deck.

Shortly before the GDR’s 20th anniversary, on October 3, 1969, the Berlin TV tower was opened to the public. The transmission tower, erected in about four years, was seen as a major symbol of the superiority of communist society by Walter Ulbricht, chairman of the GDR State Council at the time.

Hermann Henselmann and the architects Fritz Dieter, Günter Franke, and Werner Neumann from the state-owned enterprise (VEB) industrial project planning (Ipro) in Berlin constructed the television tower while the project was temporarily overseen by Gerhard Kosel, president of the German Building Academy at the time. Ulbricht saw the Berlin TV tower going up as proof positive that people in the east were making plans for a brighter future.

The Berlin TV tower has survived the fall of the GDR and is today recognized as a national landmark. It was a symbol of the GDR before German reunification, but now it represents the entire city and is recognised around the world as a symbol of Berlin and Germany. The television tower was designated a historical landmark in 1979, when the GDR was still in existence.

Today, up to 86 different countries send over a million tourists to its summit each year. At a height of over 200 metros, the observation deck provides breathtaking views of the city below and all the activity and transformation it undergoes on a daily basis. Enjoy the amazing view over Berlin from the observation deck, the panoramic bar or the revolving restaurant Sphere.

According to urban legend, the iconic TV Tower was destined to meet a tragic end because it was constructed as a symbol of technological progress. The steel sphere beneath the antenna reflected a massive cross, much to the consternation of GDR authorities. The removal of crucifixes from churches in secular Socialist East Germany prompted the joke that this was the Popes’ retribution on the regime.