Stuttgart - Fernsehturm (TV Tower)

Sunday – Outside it’s a snowy and cold day but it’s not raining and will be perfect for walking. Martin had organised a typical German breakfast with cereal, bread, cheese and meat and of course lots of coffee. Our first destination using the tram was Fernsehturm (TV Tower) on the high ground above Stuttgart. The views are spectacular and on a fine day it is possible to see as far as the Black Forest. The temperature at the top though was quite bitter and with the wind well below freezing. Walking from the tower back to the tram through the snow-covered forest was a magical return to my childhood, awakening memories long forgotten. Our next stop was the lookout at Eugensplatz with great views over the city and distant vineyards, this was followed with the Weisenburgerpark lookout and then a long walk through the forest along the Alte Weinsteige to the Tea House, which was unfortunately closed. By dark, which is quite early in wintertime Germany, we reached the Christmas markets in Stuttgart's Schlossplatz with the wonderful old castle in the background. A quiet evening at home with a glass of wine. Martin lives a more spartan existence and also goes to bed much earlier so we were always guaranteed a good long sleep.

Fernsehturm (TV Tower)
The tower is located on the hill Hoher Bopser (elevation 483 meters) in the southern Stuttgart borough of Degerloch. From the observation decks there is a view of Stuttgart, from the forests and vineyards in and around Stuttgart to the Swabian Jura and the Black Forest. The Waldau-Stadion (Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau) is located near the tower; games played there are often described as "under the TV tower" or "in the shade of the TV tower". The tower's construction was controversial – critics opposed the new building method and its costs; a simple 200-meter antenna array would have cost just 200,000 DM. Construction began on 10 January 1954 and continued for 20 months. This made it the first telecom tower in the world built with reinforced concrete. The construction cost was 4.2 million DM. Revenues from visitors reached that sum within five years. The tower was placed in service on 5 February 1956 by Süddeutscher Rundfunk (today Südwestrundfunk) It was part of the German state visit of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in May 1965. The tower reached its current height of 216.61 m (710.7 ft) after the antenna was extended from October 1965 to December 1965.Read more