Donauturm Vienna top from S on 2013-06-14

The Donauturm ( en, Danube Tower) is a tower in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, the tallest structure in Austria at , and is the 68th tallest tower in the world. Opening in April 1964, the tower is located near the north bank of the

Danube River The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

in the district of

Donaustadt Donaustadt (; literally, Danube City; Central Bavarian: ''Donaustod'') is the 22nd district of Vienna, Austria (german: 22. Bezirk, Donaustadt). Donaustadt is the eastern district of Vienna.Statistik Austria, 2007, webpage statistik.at-23450. ...

History

The Donauturm was constructed during 1962–1964, as designed by architect Hannes Lintl, in preparation for the Viennese International Horticultural Show 1964. The tower stands at in height. Groundbreaking took place on 12 October 1962. After approximately 18 months of construction, under the supervision of Eberhard Födisch, the tower was officially opened on 16 April 1964 by Federal President

Adolf Schärf Adolf Schärf (; 20 April 1890 – 28 February 1965) was an Austrian politician of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ). He served as Vice-Chancellor from 1945 to 1957 and as President of Austria from 1957 until his death. Life Schärf was b ...

. Since then, it has become a part of the Viennese

skyline A skyline is the outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city’s overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the land. City skylin ...

and has become a popular lookout point and a tourist attraction. It is situated in the middle of the Donaupark, which was built to host the horticultural fair in Vienna's 22nd District,

, near the northern bank of the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

Facilities

High-speed elevators

Two high-speed

elevator An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They ...

s transport passengers to the tower's viewing platform at . Each lift, carrying up to 14 passengers, takes only 35 seconds to reach the observation platform. In strong winds, the elevators travel at only half speed because of the possible fluctuation of the tower: the movement of the elevator cable could be dangerous. By walking about 779 steps (775, according to architects Lintl), the platform can also be reached on foot. The stairs are, however, usually only accessible during the annual Donauturm run, or in an emergency.

Antennas and radio transmitter

The Donauturm spire carries antennas of

cellular phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...

networks, private VHF

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

s and several other radio communication services. Despite its similarity to TV towers elsewhere, it has not been used for TV broadcasting. The major TV transmitter for the Vienna area is situated on Kahlenberg hill (''see image at top'').

Viewing platform

Two

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 ...

s (at a height of 161.2 and 169.4 metres, or 529 and 556 ft) offer a varied view over the Austrian capital and the Danube River below. It takes the platform either 26, 39 or 52 minutes to complete a full revolution. The restaurants were originally largely identical; now the top is an "upscale" restaurant (named "Turm-Restaurant") and the lower restaurant is a café (named "Turm-Café").

Ballooning accident in 1968

At a meeting of Pro Juventute on 6 June 1968, four gas balloons were launched from a meadow at Donauturm. While three of them floated past the tower, the fourth was driven against the tower, where it was initially hung on the security grills, at a height of approx. 150 m. The balloon net tore and the balloon envelope broke free. The remnants of the net and the basket fell to the ground. American balloonist Francis Shields died, along with two Austrian passengers: a higher official of the Austrian Post and Telegraph Management, Guntram Pammer, and journalist Dieter Kasper of the Austrian Press agency. Footage of the incident appeared in the film ''Days of Fury'' (1979), directed by Fred Warshofsky and hosted by

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

Wikipedia naming controversy

The Donauturm shares some architectural features with the

Fernsehturm Stuttgart Fernsehturm Stuttgart ( en, Stuttgart TV Tower) is a telecommunications tower in Stuttgart, Germany. It was the first telecommunications tower in the world constructed from reinforced concrete, and it is the prototype for many such towers worldw ...

, but was never planned for TV broadcasting purposes. The German Wikipedia had an approximately 600,000-character discussion about the suitable title and categories, as some authors, many of them Austrian, regarded the Donauturm as a mere observation tower.Spiegel 19.04.2010, INTERNET, Im Innern des Weltwissens
Mathieu von Rohr The Spiegel coverage of the issue cited a participant with "On good days, Wikipedia is better than any TV soap".

References

External links

Official website
*
Footage of the 1968 accident.

{{Authority control Towers completed in 1964 Buildings and structures in Donaustadt Observation towers in Austria Towers with revolving restaurants Restaurants in Vienna Radio masts and towers in Europe Towers in Vienna 1964 establishments in Austria Communication towers in Austria