Compared with most major conurbations, Berlin is not a high-rise city. I value this. It helps to make Berlin distinctive. Really tall buildings are still few and far between. I think that this was largely due to the division of Berlin after World War II, when the construction of any tall buildings could've been seen as a provocative gesture. However, the Axel Springer building was deliberately built next to the western side of the (former) Berlin Wall. And of course the Fernsehturm (Television Tower) was built by the DDR government next to the Alexanderplatz. Opened in 1969, at 368 metres (1207 feet) high, it is still one of the tallest buildings in the world.

A few new high-rise buildings have been built, for example that occupied by Allianz, on the south bank of the River Spree close to the Eisenbrücke. A part of the "Treptowers" complex, the name is a gift (it is located in Treptow, very close to Treptower Park)! A small forest of high-rise towers is also planned as part of the much-needed regeneration of the Alexanderplatz and surrounding area.

The Siegessäule (Victory Column) in the Tiergarten, the dome of the Protestant Cathedral, and the roof and dome of the Reichstag building are also excellent vantage points, although much lower than the Fernsehturm.

The towers of the Deutscher Dom and the Französischer Dom in the Gendarmenmarkt, with the dome of the Reichstag building and cranes surrounding the Hauptbahnhof building site, seen from high above the Leipziger Straße.

View from the Siegessäule (Victory Column) in the Tiergarten. The oval building is the new Federal President's Office. Bellevue Palace, immediately behind it, is a pleasant and simple baroque building which now serves as the Presidential Palace.

View from the Siegessäule looking east along the Straße des 17.Juni. The Brandeburg Gate and Television Tower are straight ahead, with the Sony Center and the high-rise buildings of the new Potsdamerplatz to the right.

Located well to the west of the city centre
is the Funkturm (Radio Tower) -- see right.
Designed by Heinrich Straumer, and built
in 1924, it is now part of a large complex
that includes the huge trade and exhibition
halls of the Messegelände and Internationales
Congress Centrum (ICC). Also close by is the
Haus des Rundfunks ("Broadcasting House").
A short distance to the south-west is the AVUS --
Automobilverkehrs und Übungsstraße, which was
the world's longest motor-racing and testing track
when it was opened in 1920. It is now a part of the
Berlin autobahn (motorway) network. The Olympic
Stadium and its surrounding buildings lie to the
north-west.

Below are four panoramic views of Berlin taken
from the platform of the Funkturm, 125 metres
(490 feet) above the ground!

The Funkturm rising from behind the aggressively modern ICC (Internationales Congress Centrum) built 1973-79. The photo was taken from the Kurfürstendamm where it crosses the Ringbahn -- Berlin's overground equivalent of London's Circle Line.

Looking to the north-west. The newly-restored Olympic Stadium can be seen in the centre. To the left -- the large block of flats is the Le Corbusier Haus. Constructed in 1956, it was deemed to be too large for its original site -- the Hansaviertel redevelopment to the north of the Tiergarten. Based on Le Corbusier's theories of housing being "a machine for living", this "Unité d' Habitation" is truly gigantic -- 17 storeys high. I couldn't get close enough to it to take a photo that would give a true idea of its size!

Looking to the south-west. The wooded hill is the Teufelsberg -- Devil's Hill. This is an artificial hill -- one of several around Berlin made out of the millions of tons of rubble cleared from the city after 1945. The buildings on the summit were built to house a military radio interception station -- now closed since the end of the Cold War.

Looking east. The lake is the Lietzensee.The street is the Kantstraße, leading to the old western city focal point at the Kurfürstendamm, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Emperor William Memorial Church) and Zoo Station (Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten). The Television Tower (Fernsehturm) can be seen soaring above the Tiergarten. To the right, at the edge of the Tiergarten's trees, is the roof of the Sony Center and the towers of the new Potsdamer Platz complex.

Looking north-east. The baroque dome of the Schloß Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) can be seen in the centre of the photo. The ralway station is S-Bahnhof Witzleben -- part of the Stadtbahn (City Railway) ring line (Ringbahn). This is Berlin's equivalent of the London tube's Circle Line. It was disrupted whilst the Berlin Wall was in existance, but now that it has been reconnected, the Ringbahn is a very convenient way to get around Berlin when it isn't necessary to travel into the city centre itself.

The view looking north from the Kriegsdenkmal on the Kreuzberg in Viktoriapark. The dome of the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz, along with the other new prestige office towers, can be seen in the middle.

Another view. The towers of the Gendarmenmarkt churches can be seen in the centre.

Another view, with the Fernsehturm (Television Tower) on the left.

Looking south from the Großer Bunkerberg.

A view from the top of the Flakturm in Humboldthain Park. The new Gesundbrunnen Center dominates the foreground.

An evening panorama, with the Television Tower, seen from the back of my hotel in Storkower Straße. In the foreground is
S-Bahnhof Landsberger Allee, with the Berlin Sport Park and Velodrom behind it -- almost entirely underground!

The Olympic Stadium seen from the top of the Bell Tower.

Another panorama from the top of the Bell Tower. The Le Corbusier-Haus is on the right, with the Funkturm (Radio Tower) just to the left of it.