The Berlin TV Tower

The Berlin TV Tower, the Fernsehturm, is the tallest structure in Germany at 368 metres, and it is the landmark you will use to find your way all week, visible from almost everywhere in the city. It was built by the East German government in the late 1960s and opened in October 1969, in time for the twentieth anniversary of the GDR, as a symbol of socialist modernity designed to be seen from West Berlin. Its steel sphere, which holds the viewing floor and the restaurant, was meant to echo the Sputnik satellites; much to the regime's embarrassment, when the sun shines on it, the reflection forms a cross, which West Berliners nicknamed the Pope's revenge. Today the tower is a beloved symbol of the reunited city. A fast lift carries you up the shaft in well under a minute to the viewing floor, at a little over 200 metres, where a ring of windows gives a 360-degree panorama: Museum Island and the cathedral below, the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag dome along Unter den Linden, the Tiergarten, Potsdamer Platz, the long Stalinist boulevard of Karl-Marx-Allee to the east, and on clear days the lakes and forests on the horizon. Information panels identify what you are looking at, and there is a bar for a drink with the view. One floor up, the revolving restaurant, relaunched in 2025 as Sphere by Tim Raue, the Berlin-born chef, turns slowly through a full circle, serving Berlin and Brandenburg classics with a modern touch, and a table reservation with admission is one of the most popular ways to visit. Tickets are timed; the standard admission is moderately priced, at around twenty euros, with fast-view tickets, breakfast and table-reservation combinations at higher prices. The tower is generally open daily from 9am to 11pm, and you should arrive fifteen minutes early for the security check.

When to go: the hour before sunset is the most popular time, and rightly so, as you can see the city by day, at dusk and lit up, all in one visit; book that slot well ahead. Early mornings are quietest and often clearest. On cloudy or foggy days the view can disappear completely, so check the weather and webcam before you commit, especially if you have a non-refundable ticket. Note also that the tower occasionally closes for operational reasons: the observation deck, the Sphere restaurant and the bar are closed to visitors on 23 November 2026, so check the date of your visit.

Making it special: the table reservation at Sphere includes admission and the slowly revolving view, and is the most relaxed way to do the tower, without standing at the windows among the crowd. Breakfast packages are good value for early risers. Families should know that the lift and the security check involve some waiting at busy times, and that the base of the tower, with its pavilion and the fountains and park around it, is a good place to let children run before or after. The tower is not suitable for anyone who cannot use lifts, as there is no public access to the stairs.

Around Alexanderplatz: the tower stands at the heart of the former East Berlin centre, between Alexanderplatz with its World Clock and Fountain of Friendship, the red-brick Rotes Rathaus, Berlin's city hall, and the medieval St Mary's Church, one of the oldest in the city. The DDR Museum and Museum Island are a short walk west across the Spree, and the Nikolaiviertel, the reconstructed old quarter, is just to the south. Alexanderplatz is a major hub for the S-Bahn, the U-Bahn and trams, so the tower is easy to reach from anywhere.