DDR Watch Tower

Near Potsdamer Platz you can find the last surviving “panoramic observation tower” of the GDR. The rarity, called RBT or BT-6, was built to secure the inner-German border and, as the last of its kind, was placed under monument protection in 2001.

Over eight meters high and resembling a mushroom, it leads through a narrow shaft onto the octagonal pulpit with windows on all sides and shooting holes underneath. Towers of this kind were constructed only for a short time from 1969 to 1972 due to static and logistical issues; square towers soon took over.