Good news on its 50th birthday: The reopening of the “Telemichel” is getting closer

 
  • The tower is expected to be publicly accessible again as of 2023
  • Specific timetable until reopening
  • Still Hamburg’s most important radio site after 50 years

Hamburg, May 4, 2018: In time for the 50th birthday of the Heinrich Hertz Tower, the Hamburg landmark has come a step further towards its reopening to the public. The Europe-wide request for proposals for a new operator has started with the goal of permanently reopening the observation platform as of 2023.

Interested companies now can apply for the operation of the 13th and 14th floor of the Heinrich Hertz Tower and a planned entrance building by submitting a viable concept by mid-June 2018. As the building owner, DFMG Deutsche Funkturm GmbH will decide on a new operator in coordination with the city of Hamburg by the end of the year, following a fair competitive process.

Specific timetable until the reopening

With the preservation-related review of the building the planning phase was launched simultaneously with the request for proposals – after all, this is about restoring a monument with national significance. Based on this, the next step involves the call for bids and award procedure for the planning activities with the goal to complete the planning of the tower and new entrance building by the end of 2019. Due to public funding, the subsequent construction activities must also be opened to bidders before the building phase can start. The tower is expected to be publicly accessible again in 2023.

“The reopening of the Heinrich Hertz Tower is a complex project in many aspects. The required tendering procedures, various project participants, landmark-related specifications and, not least, the structural conditions are great challenges,” says Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, CEO of Deutsche Funkturm. “It is all the more important that we now have a concrete timetable to restore the double function of radio and observation tower to the Telemichel.”

Hamburg’s most important radio site

Designed in the early 1960s as a telecommunications tower, the Heinrich Hertz Tower is still the most important site for wireless communications in the Hamburg region 50 years after its commissioning. The TV Tower plays an important role particularly for analog and digital radio and TV but also for radio relays of agencies and mobile services. Additionally, Deutsche Telekom uses the Heinrich Hertz Tower to test the communication standard of the next generation, 5G, at the port of Hamburg.

 

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