Fernsehturm
Communist East Germany under Walter Ulbricht constructed the largest television tower in Europe. Rising above Alexanderplatz, the TV tower featured a revolving café and observation deck that were symbols of East German progress. After reunification, Fernsehturm became the one of the foremost symbols of the city and has more than a million visitors every year.
From Past to Present
Built by three leading East German architects, Fritz Dieter, Günter Franke and Werner Ahrendt, legend tells that Ulbricht decided on 365 meters to associate the tower with total days of the year. In the 1950’s, transmitters were constructed and final preparations began in 1964 with completion in 1969. The lift reaches 200 meters in 40 seconds. An observation deck sits at 203 meters and a café at 207 meters. The café performs a rotation every half-hour.
Irony of the tower
The TV tower represented strength of the atheist communist government, Berliners noticed how light refracted and reflected off stainless steel panels into an image of a luminous cross became known as “The Pope’s Revenge”.
President Ronald Reagan mentioned this phenomenon in his "Tear down this wall" speech on 12 June 1987:
"Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexanderplatz. Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw: treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere, that sphere that towers over all Berlin, the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed."
Researched and written by Jason Merritt, Undergraduate Student in History, University of West Florida, HIS 4905 Summer 2012
