The Berlin TV Tower (Fernsehturm) turns 55 years old on October 3, 2024. Here’s what celebrations are in store above the chaos of the capital.

Berliner Fernsehturm turns 55 years old on German Unity Day 2024

With its 368,03 metre construction completed on October 3, 1969, the Berliner Fernsehturm turns 55 today!

The work of Hermann Henselmann, a German architect also known for his numerous socialist classicist works found surrounding the Fernsehturm, on Alexanderplatz and Karl-Marx-Allee, the Fernsehturm was designed to broadcast GDR television and radio programmes.

Much to the dismay of those inhabiting houses, offices and shops which were demolished to make way, construction began in 1965 and by 1967, the tower’s stem had been completed. August 1968 saw construction workers scaffold and panel the Turmkugel (tower ball) now iconic to the capital’s skyline, and in October of that year, the red and white striped antenna was mounted.

On October 3, 1969, the GDR’s first leader Walter Ulbricht opened the tower and the Fernsehturm began broadcasting colour TV in the GDR for the first time with the Deutsche Fernsehfunk 2 channel. “Das zweite Fernsehprogramm ist eröffnet” (“The second television is programme is initiated”), Ulbricht said as the first words broadcast.

Today, the tower serves numerous local radio and television broadcasters but is best known as a symbol of Berlin and Germany. Its viewing platform attracts no fewer than one million visitors per year, 25 percent of whom are Berliners, 25 percent Germans and 50 percent international tourists.

Visitors can get a sneak peek of new Fernsehturm menu

After closing for renovations in autumn 2023, the Fernsehturm's famously rotating Sphere restaurant is set to open again in 2025.

But to celebrate the Turm’s 55th birthday, visitors have been invited to sample the new restaurant menu, put together by chef Tim Raue of Michelin star acclaim.

A three-course “Damals, Heute und Zukünftig” (“Then, Today and In Future”) menu attempts to reflect Berlin cuisine throughout the Fernsehturm’s history. Think the Spreewälder Gurken so beloved in the GDR and… the beef cheek gulasch at 124 euros per head, 207 metres above the chaos of the future.

Echte Berliner*innen can opt for a grounded Currywurst and a nice view of the Turm in celebration.

Thumb image credit: Ayman Noureldin / Shutterstock.com