Berlin TV Tower
At 368 metres, the Berliner Fernsehturm is the tallest structure in Germany. Built between 1965 and 1969 by East Germany's state postal authority (Deutsche Post der DDR), it was the world's second-tallest television tower at its opening and now draws more than a million visitors a year — one of Germany's ten most-visited sites. The tower is more than a transmitter: at 203 metres there is an observation deck with a bar, and at 207 metres a revolving restaurant turns a full circle once every hour. The East German government intended it as a political symbol of socialist achievement; after reunification it became something more personal — a city-wide landmark that all Berliners claim as their own. It has been a listed monument since 1979. Step into the base pavilion with its folded concrete canopy, look up the shaft, and traces of the Cold War building story appear in every small detail.
Germany · 4 The overlooked corners inside
The overlooked corners inside
The TV Tower Cinema (closed)
The cinema in the south wing of the TV Tower has long since closed, but its very existence says a lot about how East Germany saw the structure: not merely a broadcasting tower, but a cultural centre for the capital. The cinema sat in the south wing of the building wrapped around the tower's base (the Umbauung), opening in 1972 when the whole complex was completed. It served as a cinema for Mitte, the central district of East Berlin, in the building beside the tower's foot — though today it holds the status of a "former cinema," the space having passed through several changes of use. As you walk past the south wing, it is worth comparing the layout you see now with cross-section photographs from that era.
Sources: wikidata.org · de.wikipedia.org
Tower Base Pavilion (Umbauung)
You do not need a tower ticket to explore the base. The Umbauung — literally the 'enclosure', also called the Fußumbauung — is a two-storey complex of buildings that wraps around the tower's concrete feet, comprising an entrance pavilion, two flanking wings and a promenade level connecting them all. Its most striking feature is the folded reinforced-concrete canopy: large, sharply angled planes that tilt down toward the free-standing staircase and the tower entrance on either side, their edges clearing the ground by only a few centimetres. The complex was built between 1968 and 1972 to designs by architect Walter Herzog, with structural engineering by Rolf Heider.
Sources: de.wikipedia.org
Alex 35 (Berlin Bear sculpture)
A bear stands on the plaza at the tower's base — this is "Alex 35," one of the Berliner Bär (Berlin Bear) public-art figures, sponsored by TV Turm GmbH. The Buddy Bears project was launched by entrepreneurs Klaus and Eva Herlitz together with sculptor Roman Strobl, with the first bears appearing on Berlin's streets in 2001. The bear is the heraldic animal of Berlin's coat of arms, and these hand-painted fibreglass figures are now scattered across more than five hundred spots throughout the city. This one's name carries "Alex" — the nickname for Alexanderplatz, the East Berlin landmark that anchors the square alongside the TV Tower — while "35" is its number within the group at this location. Look closely at its belly or base to spot the artist's signature or design details.
Sources: overpass-api.de · en.wikipedia.org
Tower Sphere (Observation Deck and Revolving Restaurant)
Look up at the silver sphere — this is the Turmkorb, the tower basket. It is 32 metres in diameter with a volume of just over 17,000 cubic metres; its centre sits at 213.78 metres above ground. The seven-storey sphere's skin is assembled from trapezoidal panels, each projecting 15 centimetres beyond the base surface to form small silver pyramids. More than a thousand of these pyramids cover 3,500 square metres of cladding and catch the light like a faceted gemstone. The floors inside that are not open to visitors have almost no windows — just small porthole-like openings (Bullaugen) for light.
Sources: de.wikipedia.org
FAQ
What overlooked corners are worth seeing inside Berlin TV Tower?
The TV Tower Cinema (closed), Tower Base Pavilion (Umbauung), Alex 35 (Berlin Bear sculpture) and more — 4 spots in all, each with sources and a guide in your language to read or listen to on the spot.
Is the Berlin TV Tower guide free?
All 4 guides are free.