Generaltelegrafenamt, Telegraph administration building in Mitte, Germany

The Generaltelegrafenamt is a four-wing complex along Französische Straße 33, Oberwallstraße 4a/5 and Jägerstraße 42/44, built in the brick tradition of 1860s Berlin and modelled on the Italian High Renaissance. Its sandstone-clad facade is divided into eleven axes over three and a half storeys, with risalits, paired columns, putti groups and round-arched windows. Inside, the 1878 apparatus hall keeps its glass ceiling on cast-iron girders.

The oldest part, at Oberwallstraße 4A, was built in 1862–1864 to plans by Wilhelm Salzenberg under site supervision of Adolph Lohse, as Germany's first telegraph office, at a total cost of 420,000 marks. From 1867 the General-Telegraphen-Direktion headed by Franz von Chauvin directed telegraphy for the North German Confederation and from 1871 for the whole empire. Carl Schwatlo rebuilt the complex in 1877–1878 as Berlin's first Haupttelegrafenamt; a 1902 extension by Kessler followed. It served as the telegraph headquarters until 1945.

The building represents the evolution of German telecommunications, with its apparatus hall showcasing cast iron beams supporting a glass ceiling from 1878.

The complex occupies the block between Französische Straße 33 to the north, Oberwallstraße 4a/5 to the east and Jägerstraße 42/44 to the south, a few minutes on foot from Hausvogteiplatz. Deutsche Telekom used it as its capital-city representation until 2024, so the interior is not a public museum; visitors see the sandstone facades and the 1878 Schwatlo wing from the street.

Hidden within the building is an apparatus hall from 1878 featuring a striking ceiling system of cast iron beams supporting expansive glass panels. This engineering solution was specifically designed to provide clear light and open sightlines for operators managing thousands of simultaneous telegraph connections.