Bird's Eye View Danube Tower

The Donauturm is a 252 meter tower overlooking Donaupark, UNO City, and Vienna. It was built in 1964. An elevator will take one to the top where is a cafe, and a restaurant for a small fee and both of them revolve. Those are frequently full, especially in the evening, but one can still catch the view from a lower observation level. On a clear afternoon one stands a good chance of seeing from the Alps to Hungary. If one would like to take in the lights of the city, the observation deck is open until midnight. On the way up and, as well as, on the way down one can look up through a glass plate in the ceiling of the elevator car and watch the world fall away in just 35 seconds. At the top of the tower is a giant red tilde (~) shape that rotates around the television antenna, which is the symbol of Bank Austria.

The Danube Tower has been part of the Vienna skyline for the last 35 years. It was built as the top attraction of the international horticultural show in Vienna. The Danube Tower is 252 meters high. By climbing 776 steps and passing 58 little platforms, one can get to the observation platform at 150 metros.

It is, of course, less strenuous if one takes the lift up, which will get one up to this height in just 35 seconds. Up there, a unique panorama over Vienna awaits one. The view from the Danube Tower is particularly impressive by night. Every day until midnight, one can treat oneself to this pleasure, which the famous Austrian singer Rainhard Fendrich asks about in h

s song “Have you ever seen Vienna by night?�At the heights of 160 und 170 meters are 2 revolving restaurants, powered by 2 motors each. One can enjoy the unique view over Vienna, as well as sample the delicious Viennese cuisine at the same time.

The Vienna Donauturm was created by architect Hannes Lintl in the course of the Viennese International Horticultural Show. Since then it has become a part of the Viennese skyline and has become a popular lookout point and a tourist attraction. It is situated in the middle of the Donaupark, which was built to host the horticultural fair in Vienna’s 22nd District, Donaustadt, near the northern bank of the Danube. It is one of the tallest buildings in Vienna. The platform also bears a bungee site, used at times during summer. Two rotating restaurants one at a height of 160 and the second one at 170 meters offer a varied view over the Austrian capital. It takes the platform either 26, 39 or 52 minutes per revolution. The more daring person can enjoy a spectacular view while plunging into the sky of one of Vienna’s highest buildings. Since 2000 the Danube tower features the highest bungee center of the world.

The Danube Tower also carries antennas of cellular phone networks, private VHF radio stations and several other radio communication services. Despite its similarity to TV towers elsewhere, however, it is not used for TV broadcasting – the major TV transmitter for the Vienna area is situated on Kahlenberg.



By: Anil Gupta