At the time of its completion in 1969, the television tower on Alexanderplatz was the second tallest building in the world at a height of 365 metres, surpassed only by the Moscow Ostankino television tower, which had been completed two years earlier but was significantly taller at 540 metres.

From a construction history perspective, it was probably the most important engineering project of the GDR. In the central planning office alone, the “Betrieb Industrieprojektierung Berlin” (IPRO) of the “Volkseigenes Bau- und Montagekombinat Kohle und Energie” (VE BMK), 80 employees worked on the project planning. They were complemented by a research network that included the GDR’s “Deutsche Bauakademie” and the Institute for Lightweight Structures at the Dresden University of Technology.

Together, the planners developed an outstanding solution in terms of both construction and design and were able to realise it on schedule. Today, at 368 metres, the Berlin TV Tower is still the tallest building in Germany – and has gone from being a symbol of socialist expansion to a world-famous landmark of reunified Berlin.