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Florian TV Tower

The Florian television tower has been a symbol of the city of Dortmund for many years. Its foundations were sunk 8 metres into the ground, and the tower itself has a total height of 220 metres. At a height of 133 metres there is a platform for utility areas and machines, above which is a rotating restaurant.

The history of the tower is closely linked to that of the Westfalen park and the first ever National Garden Show in 1959. As early as 1885 a Dortmund society presented the city with the so-called "Kaiser Wilhelm Grove" in honour of the Kaiser. The park was intended as a recreation area for all the citizens Dortmund, particularly those who lived in houses without gardens. After the Second World War when the city was being rebuilt, the city fathers made a successful application to stage the National Garden Show in 1959. This foresaw considerable extensions to the park which now included the old Kaiser Wilhelm Grove, Buschmühlen park, a waste tip and a "wild" area of allotments, all of which now make up the Westfalen park.

The new plans for the Westfalen park included building a park café and a viewing tower. The project was put out for tender and awarded to the Dortmund architect, Will Schwarz. His design for the tower included a revolving restaurant. The whole tower was built within the space of 11 months thanks to financial help from the German Bundespost which used it as broadcasting point, and the Hoesch company which supplied the necessary steel and cement. The 150 metre high revolving platform at the top now houses a gourmet restaurant named "Florians" and has a seating capacity of 96. Two fast lifts bring guests to the viewing platform above the café in less than a minute. Anyone suffering from vertigo can relax and recover in the terrace café on the ground floor.

Even whilst it was being built, the "Florian" tower was already a well-known object of identification and publicity symbol for the city of Dortmund. That said, it proved very difficult to find a name for the tower. Despite a large-scale competition, there was no agreement on the name for long time, and it simply remained as the "broadcasting and viewing tower". Dortmund’s symbol was only christened "Florian" many years later.

The Westfalen park has a lot to offer. There is not only a programme of cultural activities throughout the whole year, directly next to the Florian Tower is a Cookbook Museum and another café built in 1950s style.