Its only on really dreary days like today that you cannot see the 368 meter high TV tower from pretty much everywhere in the city. From the centrepoint of a clearly and proudly designed vista up the long stretch of Karl Marx Allee, to a backdrop to an unlikely sunset spot overlooking Warschauer Straße station, to reflections in glass fronted department buildings, the omnipresence of the tower lets you know you are in Berlin.
Which is, I guess, what kind of excuses a friend of a friend's question over 'why there are so many of those tall tower things in Berlin?'! But is also part of the reason behind its construction in the first place. Built in the 1960s, at the same time as the space race between the US and the Soviet Union, it was designed to show the strength of the DDR/GDR to those living West of the wall.
Those East Germans also knew how to show their sense of humour however. According to our landlord it was the subject of a number of April Fool's jokes during the 70s and 80s. And it has been affectionately known as both the TV asparagus and the Pope's revenge due the the cross it makes when the sun shines on it.
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