The television tower is a symbol of Hamburg. It has been closed since 2001, but it may be open to the public again soon. A look at the history of "Telemichel".
by Heiko Block, NDR.de
The Hamburg television tower - popularly known as "Telemichel" - is one of the most important landmarks in the city. It was built between 1965 and 1968 and is named after the Hamburg physicist Heinrich Hertz, who became famous for detecting electromagnetic waves. The construction costs for the tower amounted to 57.2 million German marks. The tower, which is a listed building, has a total height of 279.2 meters today. It is the tallest building in the city. It is also the sixth highest television tower in Germany. The total weight is 43,000 tons. The television tower still serves as a carrier of telecommunications and broadcasting facilities for radio and television.
Closed since January 2001
The attraction of the television tower was a revolving restaurant at dizzy heights.Until it was closed on January 1, 2001 due to asbestos pollution, residents of Hamburg and tourists had the opportunity to use an elevator to go up. The gastronomy platform turned on its own axis within an hour. The lower viewing platform is 124 meters high, the restaurant platform with space for 340 guests at 127 meters.
The reinforced concrete part of the tower ends at a height of 204 meters. The steel lattice mast with the radio and television transmission antenna mounted on it is erected above it. The mast and the antenna together reach a length of 75.2 meters.
"Telemichel" is scheduled to reopen to visitors in 2023
Hamburgers and tourists will soon be able to enjoy this breathtaking view again.After the asbestos removal, the owner Deutsche Funkturm GmbH (DFMG), a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, was unable to find any new tenants. There were several attempts to reopen the tower, but the plans regularly failed - mainly because of the monument protection and the high renovation costs.
Since November 2016, a financing concept has raised hopes that residents of Hamburg and tourists will once again be able to enjoy the impressive view over the city's rooftops. Now there is also a rough timetable for the reopening:in 2023 there should be coffee and cake on the "Telemichel" for visitors again, as the future operators announced in January 2022. A "sporting schedule", according to Bernd Aufderheide, head of Hamburg Messe. But be confident.
Laying of the foundation stone for the television tower on May 25, 1965
The steel and concrete tower was built by the architects Fritz Trautwein and Rafael Behn. Her design prevailed over six other proposals in the final round of the architectural competition. The city planners wanted a tower restaurant and a public viewing platform. Construction began in April 1965. The foundation stone was laid on May 25, 1965 by the Federal Post Minister at the time, Richard Stücklen. The topping-out ceremony was celebrated on June 23, 1967.
Opening of "Telemichel" on May 11, 1968
The official opening took place on May 11, 1968. "Strawberry cake 1 mark, coffee for 95 pfennigs - enough cake and coffee" was one of the attractions at the inauguration. Mayor Herbert Weichmann and his wife Elsbeth were among the guests of honour," reported the NDR Hamburg Journal in 1993 in a review of the 25th birthday of the television tower. The people of Hamburg were therefore looking forward to the event:"And when the elevator doors open for the first time, we stand Thousands of people line up to be catapulted onto the 130 meter high viewing platform."
Second and third programs for even more families
Until the 1960s, the bunker at Heiligengeistfeld was still the focus of telecommunications traffic in Hamburg. However, the building could no longer accommodate the increasing number of antennas. The Deutsche Bundespost, which was responsible for broadcasting the second and third television programs at the time, therefore decided to have a high-performance telecommunications tower built. In November 1968, Federal Post Minister Werner Dollinger put the transmitters in the new tower into operation. 50,000 families more than before were able to receive the second and third television programs.
The 204 meter high shaft as a circular reinforced concrete tube has a lower diameter of 16.5 meters and an upper diameter of six meters. The core is the elevator shaft with two passenger elevators for 18 people each and a smaller service elevator. An emergency staircase with 1,100 steel steps connects the basement of the structure with the roof platform on the 33rd floor. It houses a crane for mounting the antennas.
Switch to digital transmission
With a total height of 271.5 meters, it was the second highest in the Federal Republic of Germany after the Olympic Tower in Munich. A 67.5 meter high antenna mast was placed on the 204 meter high reinforced concrete tower. By changing the antenna tip, the structure grew by around eight meters. In November 2004, most of the analogue TV stations in the Hamburg/Lübeck area were switched off and TV broadcasting switched completely to digital transmission from March 1, 2005 (DVB-T). For this purpose, the three antenna segments, which are around three meters high, were replaced in September 2004.
Tower still important infrastructure building
One of the main tasks, the forwarding of telecommunications connections, is increasingly being taken over by fiber optic cables and satellite routes that go directly from the user. Nevertheless, the tower remains one of the most important infrastructural buildings, without which mobile phone traffic, the fixed network, television, police and customs radio would be largely paralyzed in Hamburg.