Fernsehturm Berlin, Television tower in Mitte, Berlin, Germany
The Fernsehturm Berlin is a 368-metre television tower in the Mitte district, its pale concrete shaft topped by a sphere clad in reflective panels. The sphere holds a panoramic observation deck at about 203 metres and, a few metres above it, the rotating restaurant "Sphere" at 207 metres. A red-and-white striped antenna mast rises from the sphere's top.
The government of East Germany had the tower built between 1965 and 1969, creating the tallest structure in the country. After reunification it remained in operation and became a widely recognized landmark of the capital.
The tower's form, with its sphere and antenna, has become a trademark identified worldwide with Berlin and Germany, and it often appears in the opening shots of films set in Berlin. The restaurant in the sphere, called "Sphere", turns once every 30 minutes; when the tower opened in 1969 it turned once per hour, and the speed was doubled after the 1997 renovation.
Two lifts reach the panoramic floor at about 203 metres in 40 seconds; a stairway of 986 steps also leads up. Wheelchair users cannot visit because of fire regulations. The tower stands southwest of Alexanderplatz station, whose middle exit leads to the entrance building.
The steel sphere reflects sunlight in a cross pattern, which locals nicknamed the Pope's Revenge in reference to the atheist state. This phenomenon appears especially at low sun angles and is clearly noticed from ground level.
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