The Florianturm (Florian Tower, ''Florian'' for short) is a telecommunications tower and landmark of

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

(

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 betwee ...

). It is named after St. Florian, the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

gardener A gardener is someone who practices gardening, either professionally or as a hobby. Description A gardener is any person involved in gardening, arguably the oldest occupation, from the hobbyist in a residential garden, the home-owner suppl ...

s. The Florianturm is the

TV tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

of Dortmund and was built in 1959 as an attraction for a federal

horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

show with a height of . At the time it was briefly the highest freestanding structure in Germany. The tower was constructed similarly to a high

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typ ...

. It consists of a reinforced concrete tube, which tapers off as it rises, reaching a height of . At there is a building part with two floors. On the lower floor there are operation rooms and on the upper floor at there is a

revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is usually a tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on ...

. At and there are two observation decks. On the upper observation deck there are installations and aerials of ''

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...

''. Since 1959 it has been used for transmitting television signals. On 7 September 2004, a

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attribu ...

was used to replace the aerial. Since then, a 50-kilowatt transmitter has transmitted

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

programmes for the Dortmund area. Since 7 September 2004, the Florianturm has a height of , making it the fourteenth highest structure in Germany. From 1996 to 1998, the tower was renovated and safety standards were brought up to date. In 2000, a catwalk for

bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...

was opened on the upper platform. It was closed in 2003 after a fatal accident and was removed in July 2008.

Data

*architect: Will Schwarz, Dortmund *construction time: May 1958 – April 1959 *depth of basement: 8.10 m, the lowest part of the substructure is 110.3 m above sea level *diameter of basement: 25 m *thickness of basement plate: 2.5 m *total weight: approx. 7,700 t *volume of cement: approx. 1,385 t *total weight of concrete: approx. 3,400 m³ *total weight of steel: approx. 660 t *stability ratio: 3.5x

External links

*
Fernsehturm-Dortmund
{{Authority control Towers completed in 1959 Buildings and structures in Dortmund Communication towers in Germany Towers with revolving restaurants Observation towers 1959 establishments in West Germany

Data

See also

External links