Since Berlin is lacking a real skyline, the Berlin TV Tower is basically the skyline of Berlin. Built in the late sixties, it is not only Berlin’s highest building, but also the highest building of all Germany. The restaurant is at a height of ‘only’ 207,53 meters – but the top of the tower reaches 368 meters high.
The TV Tower is also one of Berlin’s most popular tourist attractions. There are approximately 1.2 Million visitors each year. At a maximum capacity of currently 320 visitors you may have wait for a while to actually take the ride up to the Top of the City. But both waiting in line or booking in advance is well worth the effort: the 360° panoramic view from both restaurant and observation deck is simply overwhelming, even if the weather conditions are not optimal. So if you happen to have the time and patience, take a trip up to the restaurant and/or the observation platform and enjoy the view.
The restaurant is actually built on a rotating floor. So you may enjoy your meal or your coffee and cake – or even a cocktail while ‘spinning’ around.
While the moving of the restaurant is noticeable, it’s rather slow and won’t make you spill your drink. But the speed actually used to be even slower: back in the days, when East-Berlin was still the capital of East-Germany, the restaurant made a full 360° round every hour. After that hour you were supposed to leave. Now the speed can be switched between one or two rounds per hour – and you’re basically free to stay ‘as long as you want‘ – although I suppose the staff has ways to let you know when it’s time to leave.
Talking about speed: the freshly renovated elevator move at a speed of 6 meters per second – that’s roughly a bit more than 20km/h – or slightly more than 13 miles per hour. In about 35 to 40 seconds the elevator will bring you from ground floor to the observation deck. Looking up during the ride you may enjoy a special kind of tunnel vision: – the top of the elevators made of glass.
A brief view on the History of the Berlin TV Tower
The official name of the Berlin TV Tower is “Fernmeldeturm 32” which implies that besides being a touristic attraction, it also has a practical use. Most of the an air Radio and TV Station you can receive in Berlin and surrounding Brandenburg are broadcasted from the TV Tower. And the broadcasting was of course the original reason why it was built in the first place: since the Wall was build the German Democratic Republic GDR had no access to the TV Tower that was now in West-Berlin. So the East-German government decided they had to build their own tower. Another example of the Doubling that came along with the division of Germany.
The Berlin TV Tower seen from Central Station / Hauptbahnhof – Photo: T.Bortels – please feel free to check my photo website bilderbook for more photos of the Berlin TV Tower over here: bilderbook.org/berlin/tv-tower/
Opening hours of the Berlin TV Tower
The TV Tower is open to the public on a daily basis. There are however different opening hours during summer and winter months. From March through October you can visit the TV Tower daily from 9 a.m. to midnight. From November through February the tower is open daily from 10 a.m. to midnight.
Admission fee / Tickets for visiting the observation deck
Tickets can be purchased either on location at the box office, or online through the website of the Berlin TV-Tower at tv-turm.de/en/ticket-purchase-on-site/. The price for a regular day ticket has increased quite a bit in the past years. While a regular ticket for the observation deck used to cost 13 Euros when i first wrote this article, the price is now 22,50 Euro as of September 2022.
If you don’t want to wait in the line you may want to pre-order a “Fast View Ticket Flex” for 26,00 Euro.
A table reservation for the rotating restaurant will cost you at least 27,50 Euro for a seat be the window – children get their seat for 17,50 Euro.
How to get there
Since the TV Tower is located directly at Alexanderplatz, there are quite many options to choose from. The easiest way to get to the TV Tower is probably either by S-Bahn or U-Bahn and jump off at station Alexanderplatz. You can of course also take the Bus 100 or jump off at Hackescher Mark and walk your way to Alexanderplatz.
I would personally prefer the walk, since walking towards the TV Tower can be a nice thing to do itself: you have the TV Tower in front of you and with every step you make it just seems to get a little big taller.
Do you have and thoughts, suggestions, additional recommendations or comments? Please feel free to leave your comment below. Thank you!