The tower and clock

It’s hard to imagine Berlin’s skyline without the tower of the Red Town Hall. But if history had taken a different path, it might not be here today.

In 1870, the 94-meter tower overshadowed the Hohenzollerns’ nearby Berlin Palace – embodying the new self-confidence of the proud, emerging middle class under the Prussian monarchy and showing the urban community’s desire to shape its environment.

By 1938, however, the tower had become a target for architects and urban planners redesigning Berlin to suit the ideas of the Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler felt that the upstart tower disrupted the view along Unter den Linden boulevard from the Brandenburg Gate to the Berlin Palace. To gauge how Berliners might feel about tearing the tower down, a manipulated newspaper article with the headline “Is the ‘Red Tower’ in the Way?” was published in 1939. The article quoted a visitor’s letter to the editor praising Unter den Linden – with one exception: “But something looks out of place … it’s a tower, the Town Hall tower.” The letter was fabricated, and Hitler himself had reviewed it. He made a number of corrections and added that the tower (fett) “doesn’t fit here – on this axis of the old and the new Berlin.” The article further recommended tearing the tower down, and the editors asked to hear from the public. There is no record of readers’ responses. But no further articles were published, suggesting that the reaction was so negative that the demolition plan was dropped.

After decades of use, the clock underwent extensive repairs in 2018. The four dials, each nearly five meters in diameter, made the repair work challenging. An electrical movement was installed at that time as well. As a result, the new clock needs less maintenance and – most importantly – is extremely accurate.

For security reasons, the tower is currently closed to visitors.