A Clearer View on Berlin
October 3, 2004
What better way to guarantee a clear view over the rooftops of Germany's capital than to ask illustrious guests to take part in cleaning the windows on the lofty tower. At 203 meters (666 feet) to the observation platform, Berlin's tallest construction hardly gets the attention it needs to provide visitors a spotless vista.
Most of the guests will certainly opt to wash the windows from the inside. But a few of the city's politicians will demonstrate their fearlessness by climbing out onto a narrow platform to rub the grime off the outside of the windows.
Opened for the first time on Oct. 3, 1969 after four years of building, the television tower was one of the landmarks of communist East Germany. Since then, it remains one of Berlin's most popular tourist attractions, having recorded a total of 42 million visitors.