Already in the 1950s there were plans for the construction of a television tower in Berlin that was to be built in the first Müggelberg in Berlin-Köpenick. The construction has already begun but had to be adjusted again, as it would have meant for the airport Berlin-Schoenefeld a danger. Then, the SED leader Walter Ulbricht in 1964 decided to build the TV tower on Alexanderplatz. Already in the late summer of that year, the work started and it should take only about four years to complete the tower was completed. In October 1969 he was commissioned.
 
Today is the television tower one of the most distinctive landmarks. Around one million visitors from all over the world flock each year, mainly to the observation deck at 203 meters altitude, in good weather to far up to 40 kilometers to look over the city. One floor above the viewing platform is the Telecafé which rotates twice per hour on its axis.