Greens call for a review of the renovation of the Dresden TV tower

In the opinion of the Green Party, the planned renovation of the Dresden TV tower should be put to the test. "The planned luxury refurbishment seems completely out of date, at least since the collapse of the Carola Bridge," explained Thomas Löser, member of the state parliament. He said it was time to work out alternative options for opening up the TV tower.

Löser had submitted a minor question on the subject to the state parliament. This revealed that only just under 540,000 of the planned 4.5 million euros in funding in the state's current double budget had been called up. "The difficult budgetary situation of the city of Dresden currently requires painful savings in many areas. It does not reflect well on the state capital if it prefers to make cuts in the social and cultural sectors instead of questioning the renovation of the TV tower, which cost around 25 million euros," said Löser.

Blocked to the public since 1991

In 2018, the federal government pledged 12.8 million euros, half of the estimated costs. The state of Saxony intends to contribute a quarter of the funding. It remains unclear when the 252-metre-high tower will be open to the public again. Since 1991, the building has only been open to technical staff of the Deutsche Telekom subsidiary Deutsche Funkturm.

The Dresden television tower was opened on October 7, 1969 and has since served as a broadcasting tower for television, radio and mobile communications. It is considered an important building of Eastern modernism. At a height of 145 meters, there was a restaurant on two floors. Before it was closed, around 200,000 visitors came every year. However, it was calculated that more were needed to make it economically viable.

There is still a platform above the restaurant where visitors can go outside and, on a clear day, see as far as the Ore Mountains and Saxon Switzerland. In the past, the TV tower could also be climbed on foot via 750 steps. Currently, only an elevator is available. It takes about two minutes to reach the top.