Funkhaus Köln (Deutschlandfunk Tower)
The 102-metre Funkhaus Köln in the Raderthal district has housed the studios and editorial offices of Deutschlandfunk since 1979. Listed as a protected monument since 2024, the tower with its unusual suspended structure can be explored on regular public guided tours.
Rising 102 metres above the left-bank district of Raderthal, the Funkhaus Köln is a broadcasting building notable both for its role in radio history and for its remarkable construction. Since 18 February 1979, it has been home to the studios and editorial offices of Deutschlandfunk.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Location
- Raderthal district of Cologne (left bank of the Rhine)
- Height
- 102 metres
- Architect
- Gerhard Weber
- Occupied
- 18 February 1979, officially opened 24 April 1980
- Use
- studios and editorial offices of Deutschlandfunk
- Heritage status
- protected monument since 29 January 2024
- Visiting
- regular public guided tours
- Ranking
- tenth-tallest high-rise in Cologne (as of autumn 2018), among the 100 tallest in Germany
History
As early as 1969, the supervisory board of Deutschlandfunk chose Gerhard Weber's preliminary design. Construction began in 1974, the building was occupied in February 1979, and it was officially opened in April 1980.
Nearby once stood Deutsche Welle's broadcasting house on the Raderberggürtel, which was completely dismantled by 2021. Since 29 January 2024, the Deutschlandfunk tower itself has been a listed monument.
Architecture and Construction
For the tower, Weber used a suspended structure borrowed from bridge engineering. From 1974, a cantilever construction was mounted on a 100-metre reinforced concrete core, from which the individual floors were lowered storey by storey.
The floors are carried by steel cables running inside concrete beams set at an angle across the roof, so that each storey effectively hangs from the core. When completed, the interior — with its studios, editing rooms and broadcasting technology — was state of the art. The concert hall and chamber music hall, with their acoustics, join the ranks of Weber-designed auditoriums such as the National Theatre in Mannheim and the Hamburg State Opera.
Visiting and Guided Tours
Public guided tours of the Funkhaus Köln are offered at regular intervals, giving visitors the chance to see the building and its broadcasting technology up close.
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Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-08-27
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