Four Marvellous Towers With Sweeping Views Over Berlin
Berlin is full of places where you can climb up to get a great view over the city. Here are four that I think are all quite cool: two Cold War-era towers, a beautiful church, and an old WWII flak tower full of bats.
The Berlin TV Tower, or “Fernsehturm” in German
TV Tower
The biggest and I daresay most famous. Berlin’s TV Tower is an iconic symbol of the city. Some love it, some… not so much. I think it’s amazing. It’s really cool on the inside, too! Even though the tower was built in the ‘60s the elevator is relatively new, and is actually one of the fastest in the world. Your ears might pop as you go up!
Of course, the TV Tower offers the “best” views of the city as it’s the tallest tower, but you are of course behind glass, too. If you want an unobstructed view, read on…
Where? Alexanderplatz (S-Bahn, U2, U5, U8, Tram)
What? Berlin’s cosmic communist space age tower!
How Much? €28.50 for adults
Tickets? Buy on the official website here
Humboldthain Flak Tower
Up in the trendy district of Wedding you’ll find a giant concrete flak tower from World War Two. Once one of four great big anti-aircraft installations built to defend Berlin from Allied air raids in the 1940s, the flak tower is now a great place to get a view over Berlin.
Top tip: want to visit inside the flak tower? Book a tour with Berliner Unterwelten.
Where? Gesundbrunnen (S-Bahn, U8)
What? A giant Nazi-era anti-aircraft installation
How Much? Free
The mighty Berliner Dom beside the Lustgarten on the UNESCO World Heritage Museum Island
The Berliner Dom
Aka the Berlin Cathedral. The Berliner Dom is one of Museum Island’s most beautiful buildings. It’s also not quite as old as it looks - it was only finished just over 100 years ago. Visitors can not only go upstairs for sweeping views over the UNESCO World Heritage Museum Island, but can go down into the crypts and see the tombs of the Prussian Kings!
Where? Museum Island (U5)
What? A beautiful 20th-Century Church
How Much? €9
Tickets? I got you - click here
Teufelsberg is a bit out of the way, but really worth the journey
Teufelsberg aka Devil’s Mountain
Stuff like this is what makes Berlin. The Nazis built an SS training college after WWII. After the war, the Americans and the Brits dumped tons and tons (and tons, and more tons) of rubble on top of it until they’d made the tallest hill in West Berlin. Atop that hill, they built a tower that looks like a big… tower.
So what did they do with this tower? Those white balls you see had very sensitive microphones inside that could pick up conversations all across East Berlin. Of course, the sneaky Westerners were spying on the communists of East Berlin!
The views over the forest here are truly magical, as is the hike up there. The site is filled with top-class graffiti, too. Teufelsberg is one of my all-time favourite places to show my guests!
Where? Heerstrasse (S5)
What? A comical-looking Cold War-era spy tower
How Much? €8
Tickets? Get ‘em here
