Berlin TV Tower: Views and Tickets for School Classes

368 metres high, opened on 3 October 1969, the observation deck at 203 metres reachable by lift in under forty seconds. One floor up, the restaurant turns once every half hour. For a school trip to Berlin, the Berlin TV Tower is the fastest way to show a class the whole city at once, from the Spree to the edge of town.

Berlin TV Tower: Observation Deck at 203 Meters

The tower was built in the 1960s on behalf of the GDR, the design by Hermann Henselmann, and it was constructed using a climbing method. It was opened on October 3, 1969. With a total height of 368 meters, it remains the tallest structure in Germany to this day; the sphere alone measures 32 meters in diameter.

The elevator covers the distance to the observation deck at six meters per second in about forty seconds. The 986 steps next to it are reserved for emergencies. At the top, the platform is stationary, while the restaurant one floor higher rotates once every thirty minutes around its own axis. For a class, the tower is also a clear introduction to urban geography, as districts, the course of the Spree, and construction sites can be assigned at a glance from the circular viewing area.

TV Tower with a School Class: Tickets, Time Slots, and VR Time Travel

Tickets are valid for a fixed time slot and can be booked online up to ninety days in advance. The stay on the platform is limited to 45 minutes. Standard tickets start at 20 Euros for adults and 14.50 Euros for children aged four to fourteen. There are no fixed school class rates; groups of twenty people or more should request a separate offer.

The ticket includes the virtual reality experience “Berlin”s Odyssey”, which takes you through nine centuries of city history in fifteen minutes. There are no guided tours or audio guides; instead, there’s a free web app with audio stories and over two hundred locations on the map. Two points are important for planning: The tower is not barrier-free, and young people under fifteen years of age may only go up accompanied by an adult. There are no lockers.