The Heinrich-Hertz-Turm (named after the German physicist and Hamburg-born Heinrich Hertz

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz

Heinrich Rudolf Hertz was a German physicist who clarified and expanded the electromagnetic theory of light that had been put forth by Maxwell...

) is a radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 telecommunication

Telecommunication

Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...

 tower

Tower

A tower is a tall structure, usually taller than it is wide, often by a significant margin. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires....

 and a famous landmark of Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Designed by architect Fritz Trautwein, in co-operation with civil engineers Jörg Schlaich

Jörg Schlaich

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Drs. h.c. Jörg Schlaich is a German structural engineer. He later founded his own firm Schlaich Bergermann & Partner.-Early career:...

, Rudolf Bergermann and Fritz Leonhardt

Fritz Leonhardt

Fritz Leonhardt was a German structural engineer who made major contributions to 20th century bridge engineering, especially in the development of cable-stayed bridges...

, it was built 1965–1968 for former Deutsche Bundespost

Deutsche Bundespost

The Deutsche Bundespost was created in 1947 as a successor to the Reichspost . Between 1947 and 1950 the enterprise was called Deutsche Post...

 (German Federal Post and Telecommunications Agency, now Deutsche Telekoms subsidiary Deutsche Funkturm GmbH) near Planten un Blomen

Planten un Blomen

Planten un Blomen is a park with a size of 47 hectares in the center of Hamburg. The name is Low German for plants and flowers.-Overview:The first plant was a Platanus, planted by Johann Georg Christian Lehmann in November 1821...

 (a city park). With an overall height of 279,2 m (916 ft) it is Hamburg's tallest building; it comprises a 204 m (670 ft) steel-enforced concrete lower section, topped by a 45 m (148 ft) steel-lattice tower and a three-segmented cylinder of about 30 m (98 ft), which supports various antennas.

There are eight concentric platforms stacked one above the other; starting at 128 m (420 ft) with the two-story observation (lower floor) and restaurant (upper floor) platform, served by two high-speed elevators. Above that at 150 m (492 ft) is the operations platform housing the workforce and equipment, and further up six differentially sized, smaller open platforms in same distances, populated with high-gain directional microwave radio relay antennas ("parabolic mirrors"). Number nine was added at 25 m height in July 2005.

After the observation platform and restaurant were closed (due to asbestos decontamination), former stuntman

Stunt performer

A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...

 Jochen Schweitzer had a bungee jumping

Bungee jumping

Bungee jumping is an activity that involves jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air-balloon or helicopter, that...

 base installed. The restaurant will not open again due to new fire escape regulations, the bungee platform was closed at the end of 2001.

The tower has been home to the VFDB Hamburg section's radio amateur club station "DF0HHT". It also housed a DGPS transmitting station serving the city of Hamburg's Surveying Agency.

A memorial plaque on the tower's wall reads: "Heinrich Hertz – Dem Sohn der Stadt Hamburg" honouring the city's famous son.