Typenturm, Communications tower in Flensburg, Germany

The Typenturm is a standardised reinforced-concrete telecommunications tower of the former German Bundespost, built in series FMT 1 to FMT 16. The pale grey shaft carries a wide operating level with a flat overhanging rim and a band of dark panels, with further rims below; metal platforms with railings and ladders are fixed at three points down the shaft.

Standardised reinforced-concrete telecommunications towers were developed for the former Deutsche Bundespost from the early 1950s, when types A, B and C appeared in small numbers. Architects Arwed Hoyer and Werner Teutschbein handled planning; the slim type D followed in 1961 for the ZDF television network but was built only five times. From the mid-1960s the types with an operating floor were erected nationwide, planned with engineer Fritz Leonhardt and architect Erwin Heinle.

The name Typenturm comes from the German for "standard tower": the Deutsche Bundespost built these reinforced-concrete masts in numbered series from FMT 1 to FMT 16, differing in height, antenna platforms and the size of the operating floor. The FMT 7 to 10 types have no pulpit. Around 300 stand in Germany, and the Münster, Kiel, Bremen and Cuxhaven masts are classed separately as Sondertürme.

The tower stands at coordinates 54.91111, 8.30694, in the Flensburg area. It is a reinforced concrete structure with metal platforms and ladders on the shaft, visible from outside; the operating level near the top is not open to visitors. Look for the small sign with a symbol on the dark panel band of the top section.

The towers were designed by the architects Arwed Hoyer and Werner Teutschbein, with engineer Fritz Leonhardt and architect Erwin Heinle later involved in planning the types with an operating floor. The slim Type D, devised in 1961 for the ZDF television network, was built only five times.