Berliner Fernsehturm, Berlin

The Berliner Fernsehturm is Berlin’s television and viewing tower, marked by a slender shaft and a broad sphere. It was built from 1965 to 1969 by the government of the German Democratic Republic to serve communications needs while projecting communist authority. Its architects include Hermann Henselmann and Günter Franke.

The tower reaches 368 metres, making it Germany’s tallest structure. Look at the sphere: it contains a visitor platform with a bar at 203 metres and a rotating restaurant at 207 metres. The building also carries several radio and television transmitters and can host events.

More than a million people visit it each year, placing it among Germany’s ten most popular attractions. The tower opened on 3 October 1969. Its meaning changed after German reunification: once a politically charged national emblem of the GDR, it became a symbol of the reunited city. That transformation helps explain why this distinctive landmark now stands for Berlin far beyond its original broadcasting purpose.