The Bahntower, also written as BahnTower and Bahn-Tower, (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Railway Tower'') is a 26-story, 103 m (338 ft) skyscraper on the

Potsdamer Platz Potsdamer Platz (, ''Potsdam Square'') is a public square and traffic intersection in the center of Berlin, Germany, lying about south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corne ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Built between 1998 and 2000, the Bahntower provides 22,000 m² (236,806 sq ft) of office space for the headquarters of

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

(

: ''German Railway''). It is the sixth-tallest building in Berlin and the sixty-fourth tallest building in Germany.

History

In 2007 and 2008, it was reported that the small pieces of glass had fallen onto the street from cracks in the façade. This was followed in 2016 by a near-fatal incident in which a pane of glass measuring 30 cm by 150 cm (1 ft by 5 ft) fell onto a car on the street below. The original owner of the skyscraper was

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

as part of the wider

Sony Center The Sony Center is a Sony-sponsored complex of eight buildings located at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany, designed by Helmut Jahn. It opened in 2000 and houses Sony's German headquarters. The cinemas in the center were closed at the end ...

. In February 2008,

Morgan Stanley Morgan Stanley is an American multinational investment management and financial services company headquartered at 1585 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. With offices in more than 41 countries and more than 75,000 employees, the fir ...

and others bought the Sony Center with the tower for €600m. In 2007, Deutsche Bahn had planned to move to a new headquarters built by Danish company

3XN 3XN is a Danish architectural practice with head office in Copenhagen. History The company was founded in Århus in 1986 as Nielsen, Nielsen & Nielsen (later 3 X Nielsen) by Kim Herforth Nielsen, Lars Frank Nielsen and Hans Peter Svendler Nielsen. ...

outside the

Berlin Hauptbahnhof Berlin Hauptbahnhof () (English: Berlin Central Station) is the main railway station in Berlin, Germany. It came into full operation two days after a ceremonial opening on 26 May 2006. It is located on the site of the historic Lehrter Bahnhof, ...

, although this fell through and Deutsche Bahn extended its Bahntower contract. When Morgan Stanley's real estate funds came into difficulties they sold their stake to South Korea's National Pension Service in 2010. In 2016, the Bahntower was featured in the Berlin skyline scene, which is part of the

Lego Architecture Lego Architecture is a Lego theme, which aims to “celebrate the past, present and future of architecture through the Lego Brick”. The brand includes a series of Lego sets designed by ‘Architectural Artist’ Adam Reed Tucker, and each conta ...

series.

References

{{Deutsche Bahn Skyscrapers in Berlin Buildings and structures in Berlin Helmut Jahn buildings Skyscraper office buildings in Germany Office buildings completed in 2000 Deutsche Bahn