World Clock

The sixteen ton world clock was opened to the public on 30 September 1969, shortly before the twentieth anniversary of the German Democratic Republic, along with the Berlin TV Tower (Fernsehturm). The erection of the clock was part of a larger plan to expand and reorganize Alexanderplatz as a whole. At the end of the renovations, the public square was four times larger than it was at the end of the World War II.

The clock has become since the 1970s the scene of protests, as well as a landmark which Berliners living near the area use to meet others.

On 12 May 1983 the Bundestag deputies of The Greens, including Petra Kelly, Gert Bastian and three other deputies, unrolled a banner with the inscription "The Greens – swords to plowshares" before the world clock and were arrested.

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic on 7 October 1989, opposition political groups formed a demonstration which began at the clock and ended at the Palace of the Republic. The state responded by arresting over 1,200 of the protesters. Thirty-three days later, the Berlin Wall fell.Read more