Antenna towers and masts in Stuttgart

Stuttgart’s skyline is marked by tall concrete and steel towers built to carry radio and television signals across the region. The most famous is the Stuttgart Fernsehturm, a 217-metre concrete tower on the Hohen Bopser in Degerloch that has been a city landmark since the 1950s. Close by stands the Fernmeldeturm, a 192-metre steel structure on the Frauenkopf that relays mobile calls and emergency services traffic. Smaller masts such as the 99-metre Vodafone tower in Vaihingen and the 93-metre police tower on the Raichberg are also part of the network. These towers broadcast FM and DAB radio, digital television and mobile-phone services to the whole of Stuttgart and beyond. The Fernsehturm doubles as a viewing platform, giving visitors a high-angle view over the city and the surrounding hills. The other towers are closed to the public, but their shapes and silhouettes are easy to recognise from many parts of town. Even the old Richtfunkturm at the Patch Barracks site, demolished in 2009, left a memory in guidebooks and photographs. A walk along the ridge from Degerloch to Frauenkopf offers clear views of both the Fernsehturm and the Fernmeldeturm rising above the treetops. The concrete shaft of the Fernsehturm is painted red and white for visibility, while the steel lattice of the Fernmeldeturm gleams against the sky. On quiet evenings the hum of the transmitters blends with the sound of the wind through the pines. From the viewing gallery inside the Fernsehturm the city unfolds like a map, its streets and squares laid out below.