Fernsehturm | Berlin, Germany
This is the last post from our extended weekend in Berlin early in March. Taken from the Panorama Punkt at Potzdamer Platz towards the TV towers in the eastern part of Berlin.
The tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was intended to be both a symbol of Communist power and of the city. It remains a landmark today, visible throughout the central and some suburban districts of Berlin. With its height of 368 metres (including antenna) it is the tallest structure in Germany, and the third-tallest structure in the European Union. When built, it was the fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the world after the Ostankino Tower, the Empire State Building and 875 North Michigan Avenue, then known as The John Hancock Center.
The visitor platform, also called panoramic floor, is at a height of about 203 metres above the ground and visibility can reach 42 kilometres on a clear day. The restaurant "Telecafé", which rotates once every 30 minutes, is a few metres above the visitors' platform at 207 metres (679 ft). When first constructed, it turned once per hour.
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I first visited the tower on a school trip in 1971.
We were four 17 years old boys, who wanted to experience the rotation from the restaurant and had a table.
We had a menu, - but it was in German and in Russian, and none of us mastered any of these languages. We had learned German at school, - but never to read a menu.
We didn't have much money, so we were looking for something cheap.
We found something, - and asked the waiter for 4 times of that.
He looked at us as if we were nuts, - and asked "vier mal?" "Yes, please"
He went to the kitchen, and came back with four small bowls of whipped cream.
I will never forget what "Schlagsahne" is!
Fernsehturm | Berlin, Germany
This is the last post from our extended weekend in Berlin early in March. Taken from the Panorama Punkt at Potzdamer Platz towards the TV towers in the eastern part of Berlin.
The tower was constructed between 1965 and 1969 by the government of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was intended to be both a symbol of Communist power and of the city. It remains a landmark today, visible throughout the central and some suburban districts of Berlin. With its height of 368 metres (including antenna) it is the tallest structure in Germany, and the third-tallest structure in the European Union. When built, it was the fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the world after the Ostankino Tower, the Empire State Building and 875 North Michigan Avenue, then known as The John Hancock Center.
The visitor platform, also called panoramic floor, is at a height of about 203 metres above the ground and visibility can reach 42 kilometres on a clear day. The restaurant "Telecafé", which rotates once every 30 minutes, is a few metres above the visitors' platform at 207 metres (679 ft). When first constructed, it turned once per hour.
----------------------
I first visited the tower on a school trip in 1971.
We were four 17 years old boys, who wanted to experience the rotation from the restaurant and had a table.
We had a menu, - but it was in German and in Russian, and none of us mastered any of these languages. We had learned German at school, - but never to read a menu.
We didn't have much money, so we were looking for something cheap.
We found something, - and asked the waiter for 4 times of that.
He looked at us as if we were nuts, - and asked "vier mal?" "Yes, please"
He went to the kitchen, and came back with four small bowls of whipped cream.
I will never forget what "Schlagsahne" is!