It served as a symbol of communist power and remains a remarkable landmark of the now reunited city: the Fernsehturm on Alexanderplatz was inaugurated on October 3, 1969.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Gambarini
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With its iconic glittering sphere, the TV Tower looks over the once divided city that has been reunited since 1990. The 365-meter-high (1,198-foot-high) Fernsehturm on Alexander Platz in East Berlin was almost 220 meters taller than West Berlin's broadcasting tower, the Funkturm at the Berlin Exhibition Center.
When the Fernsehturm was completed in October 1969, it was the second-highest television tower in the world, right after the Ostankino in Moscow (537 meters). TV towers built afterwards, such as in Tokyo, Guangzhou, Toronto, Shanghai, Tehran or Kuala Lumpur, have since broken the records of the time.
The head of the East German state, Walter Ulbricht, inaugurated the building to mark the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the GDR, on October 3, 1969. The structure served as a demonstration of the power of the communist state. The tower was indeed a masterpiece of engineering — even West German experts were ready to admit that.
A vision of the future
"Berlin's TV Tower on Alexanderplatz was the epitome of the East's Modernism," says architecture expert Ben Kaden. It was part of the modern ensemble spreading from Karl-Marx-Allee to Alexanderplatz. "It was about providing a visible manifestation of the superiority of socialism," adds Kaden.
Karl-Marx-Allee was a monumental socialist boulevard that served as a flagship of East Germany's building projects.
Another East German monument: The World Clock on Alexanderplatz Image: picture-alliance/Bildagentur-online/Schöning
With its spectacular Urania World Clock, the GDR state also wanted to demonstrate how socialism also had time on its side. The world clock, featuring a sculptural rendering of the solar system, was also built on Alexanderplatz and inaugurated just a few days before the neighboring TV Tower, on September 30, 1969. Designed by Erich John, the clock displays the names of 148 major cities and the time of the day in those different locations.
A Berlin landmark
The initial plan was to build the TV Tower in the Müggelbergen hills, but it would have then stood in the way of a lane of the central airport Schönefeld, so that idea was abandoned.
The concrete tower houses three elevators, pipes and many cables. An emergency staircase counts 936 steps. Every day, the elevators bring 4,500 people up to the top of the structure — 1.6 million a year.
The sphere features a revolving restaurant where tourists can discover the German capital from above. Since its construction, 60.9 million people have enjoyed the view from the Fernsehturm.
Berlin TV tower and more: the top 10 landmarks in the German capital
Berlin's broadcast tower, the Fernsehturm, is turning 50. The iconic tower is Berlin's tallest landmark, but it is just one among many. Here are the top 10 most distinctive sights in the German capital.
Image: picture-alliance/robertharding/M. Lange
Berlin television tower
The GDR authorities opened the television tower on Alexanderplatz on October 3, 1969. At 368 meters (1,207 ft), it was visible from afar and meant to bear witness to the "triumph of communism." Now the tower is one of the most popular landmarks in the city. Every year about 1 million visitors enjoy the magnificent view of a borderless and reunited Berlin from up there.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Brandenburg Gate
When the Brandenburg Gate was inaugurated in 1791, it was only one of many city gates, admittedly a particularly beautiful one. Today it is probably the most famous landmark of the city. The gate was surrounded by the Berlin Wall for almost 30 years. When the Wall fell on November 9, 1989, images of the Brandenburg Gate were seen around the world. Today it is symbolic of German unity.
Image: Fotolia/sborisov
Reichstag building
Magnificent and sublime — this is how the Reichstag building stands in the heart of Berlin. During the German Empire, members of parliament met here. Since 1999, it has been the seat of the German Bundestag. The 23-meter-high (75.5 ft) glass dome of the Reichstag is a major tourist attraction.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/W. Kumm
Berlin Cathedral
At 98 meters high (321.5 ft), the main dome of Berlin Cathedral is the tallest in the capital. It offers a fantastic view of the historic center of Berlin, but to enjoy it, visitors have to climb 270 steps. Also worth seeing is the Hohenzollern Crypt, which contains around 100 coffins of the Prussian royal family.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Kahnert
Checkpoint Charlie
Checkpoint Charlie on Friedrichstrasse was probably the most famous border crossing between East and West Berlin during the Cold War era. Soviet and American tanks confronted each other here, but now it's a tourist hotspot.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Sommer
East Side Gallery
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, artists from all over the world came to Berlin and painted a 1.3-kilometer-long (4,265 ft) section of the wall along the Spree River — and the longest open-air gallery in the world was created. Some of the motifs have become photographic icons, such as the Brezhnev-Honecker "Bruderkuss" or "Brotherly Kiss" by Russian artist Dimitrji Vrubel.
Image: DW/T. Kakareko
Victory Column
In the middle of Tiergarten and surrounded by traffic stands the 60-meter-high (197 ft) Victory Column (Siegessäule). It was decorated with 60 cannons, which were taken during the German unification wars 1864-1871. On top of it sits the goddess of victory, Victoria, who is popularly known as "Goldelse" ("Golden Lizzy").
Image: imago/J. Tack
Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church
The old church tower stands as a reminder of the destruction during the Second World War; the new tower recalls the effort of reconstruction. The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (Gedächtniskirche) at Breitscheidplatz is one of the landmarks of West Berlin.
Image: Colourbox/V. Voennyy
The New Synagogue
The New Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse was inaugurated in 1866 and was regarded as the largest and most magnificent in Germany. It burned down during the Second World War. In 1995 the reconstructed synagogue was consecrated a second time. Since then, the golden dome has once again shaped the silhouette of Berlin.
Image: Renate Pelzl
Molecule Man
These gentlemen are probably the newest landmarks of Berlin. In 1999, the 30-meter-high (98 ft) sculpture by American sculptor Jonathan Borofsky was placed in the Spree River between the districts of Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Treptow as a symbol of the reunited city.
