Berlin Tower History

In 1964, Walter Ulbricht, leader of the Socialist Unity Party which governed East Germany, decided to allow the construction of a television tower modelled on theFernsehturm Stuttgart and the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik. The TV tower had several architects. Its former design was done by Hermann Henselmann, and Jörg Streitparth. It was built by the East German architects Fritz Dieter, Günter Franke and Werner Ahrendt between 1965-69.^[2] Walter Herzog, Gerhard Kosel and Herbert Aust later also took part in the planning. The Tower was deliberately constructed in the center of the historic medieval center of Berlin, resulting in the destruction of a huge portion of the historic center of the capital of Germany. A medieval church stands next to the tower as a testament to the destruction of the old city. Construction began on 4 August 1965. After four years of construction, the Fernsehturm began test broadcasts on 3 October 1969, and it was officially inaugurated four days later on the GDR's National Day. Regardless of its dark origins, It is among the best known sights in Berlin, and hosts around a million visitors a year.

When the sun shines on the Fernsehturm's tiled stainless steel dome, the reflection usually appears in the form of a cross. This effect was not anticipated by the architect. Berliners nicknamed the luminous cross Rache des Papstes, or the "Pope's Revenge". For the same reasons, the structure was also called "St. Walter" (from Walter Ulbricht). U.S. President Ronald Reagan mentioned this in his Tear down this wall speech on 12 June 1987. It is also affectionately known as theToothpick and Telespargel