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Berlin TV Tower Construction: Before, During, and After
- Yusuf Ucuz
- Mar 23
- 5 min read
Berlin's TV Tower is impossible to miss. At 368 metres, it's the tallest structure in Germany — visible from almost every neighborhood in the city. Today it's Berlin's most recognizable landmark, an icon on postcards and skylines.
But the story of how it got there is far stranger than most visitors realize. The tower was built without a proper building permit, cost four times its original budget, nearly flooded during construction, and accidentally created a giant Christian cross on its surface — in an atheist state.
Here's the full story.
Before the Tower: What Was Here
Before construction began, this area was part of Berlin's historic medieval quarter — the Marienviertel. Narrow streets, old buildings, and churches had stood here for centuries.
To build the tower and its surrounding pavilion, the GDR demolished a massive section of this old neighborhood — clearing 29,400 square metres of historic city center. St. Mary's Church (Marienkirche), which still stands next to the tower today, is one of the few survivors. It's a quiet reminder of what was destroyed to make room for East Germany's biggest propaganda project.
If you've ever wondered why the area around the TV Tower feels so empty and open compared to the rest of central Berlin — this is why. The medieval streets were erased and never rebuilt.
👉 We cover this history in detail at Stop 4 (Marienviertel) on our walking tour
Why the GDR Built It
The tower wasn't just about broadcasting television signals — although that was the official justification.
At the 1952 European Broadcasting Conference in Stockholm, the GDR was allocated only two radio frequencies. Coverage was poor across East Germany, and the regime needed a powerful transmission facility.
But the real motivation was political. Walter Ulbricht, leader of the Socialist Unity Party (SED), wanted a tower that would be visible from West Berlin — a concrete statement that communism could build something the capitalists couldn't ignore.
The design was deliberately symbolic. The sphere at the top was modeled after the Soviet satellite Sputnik, and was originally intended to glow red — the colour of socialism. The tower was meant to demonstrate the technological superiority of the communist system.
The original plan was to build it near Schönefeld Airport, about 8 km southeast of the city center. But the tower's height would have interfered with flight paths, so the location was moved to Alexanderplatz — directly in the heart of Berlin. This made it even more politically powerful as a symbol.
During Construction (1965–1969)
Construction began on 4 August 1965. The project was enormous and pushed East German engineering to its limits.
The shaft was built using a climbing construction method. Progress was rapid — the 100-metre mark was passed by October 1966, and the shaft reached its full height of 248.78 metres by June 1967. A total of 8,000 cubic metres of concrete was used, weighing 26,000 tons.
The sphere was the real engineering challenge. It had to be assembled at a height of 200 metres. Engineers first built a 35-metre replica of the shaft on the ground between St. Mary's Church and the Rotes Rathaus, where the 120 individual segments of the sphere were pre-assembled and tested before being lifted by cranes and attached to the shaft. The last segment was installed on 7 October 1968.
The budget spiralled out of control. The original estimate was 33 million East German marks. The final cost: over 132 million marks — four times the budget. Much of the overspend came from materials that had to be imported from West Germany, paid for in hard currency the GDR could barely afford.
The near-disaster: At the beginning of 1969, water began leaking into the interior of the sphere, causing serious damage. The entire ball had to be resealed — a terrifying setback with the deadline just months away.
Despite everything, workers operated in three shifts to meet the politically non-negotiable deadline: 3 October 1969, just days before the GDR's 20th anniversary celebration.
Walter Ulbricht officially opened the tower on that date, simultaneously launching East Germany's second television channel and colour TV broadcasting.
The Pope's Revenge
Then came the embarrassment nobody predicted.
When sunlight hits the sphere, the reflection creates a bright, unmistakable cross shape on its surface. In an officially atheist state that had spent decades suppressing religious expression, this was deeply ironic.
West Berliners immediately nicknamed it Rache des Papstes — "the Pope's Revenge."
The GDR government tried everything to fix it. They experimented with different coatings and surface treatments. Nothing worked. The cross appears to this day — you can see it clearly on any sunny afternoon.
👉 We tell this story at Stop 2 (Neptune Fountain & TV Tower) on our tour, where the view of the sphere is perfect.
After Reunification
When the Wall fell in 1989, some voices called for the TV Tower to be demolished — it was, after all, a symbol of the communist regime.
But the German government decided to keep it. The tower had already become too iconic, too embedded in Berlin's identity to tear down. Deutsche Telekom took over operations and invested over 50 million marks in modernizing the broadcasting equipment and renovating the interior.
In 1997, a new antenna was installed, increasing the tower's height from 365 to 368 metres. The revolving restaurant, which originally completed one rotation per hour, was sped up to once every 30 minutes.
Today the tower receives over a million visitors per year. It's no longer a symbol of communist power — it's simply Berlin.
Practical Details
Height: 368 metres (tallest structure in Germany)
Observation deck: 203 metres above ground
Restaurant: Revolving restaurant at 207 metres (one full rotation every 30 minutes)
Elevator: 40 seconds to the top
Visibility: Up to 42 km on a clear day
Ticket prices: Starting from €22.50 for the observation deck (restaurant requires reservation). For a full honest breakdown, see my guide: Is the Berlin TV Tower Worth It?
Getting there: U/S-Bahn Alexanderplatz — the tower is directly adjacent
Official website: tv-turm.de
Frequently Asked Questions
How tall is the Berlin TV Tower?
368 metres including the antenna, making it the tallest structure in Germany and the third-tallest in the European Union.
When was the Berlin TV Tower built?
Construction ran from August 1965 to October 1969 — a total of 53 months. It was built by the East German government as both a broadcasting facility and a political symbol.
What is the cross on the Berlin TV Tower?
When sunlight hits the sphere, it creates a cross-shaped reflection. This was unintentional and deeply embarrassing for the atheist GDR government. West Berliners called it "the Pope's Revenge" (Rache des Papstes).
Can you go up the TV Tower?
Yes. The observation deck at 203 metres and the revolving restaurant at 207 metres are open to visitors. Tickets start at €22.50 and can be booked online at tv-turm.de.
See It on Our Walking Tour
The TV Tower is Stop 2 on our free walking tour — we stand right beneath it at Neptune Fountain and tell the full story of its construction, the Pope's Revenge, and what the GDR destroyed to build it.
You'll also see St. Mary's Church (Stop 3), the only medieval building that survived the demolition, and walk through what remains of the Marienviertel (Stop 4) — the neighborhood that was erased.
📍 Our free walking tour meets at Alexanderplatz, World Clock
The tower looks impressive from below. Understanding why it's there makes it unforgettable.
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