The Rheinturm is Düsseldorf's television tower, a 240.5-metre concrete needle on the bank of the Rhine and the tallest structure in the city. From an observation deck at 168 metres you look out over the river bend, the Old Town and the MedienHafen. Its best trick is on the outside: the lights running down its shaft form a working clock, often called the largest digital clock in the world.
Rheinturm at a glance
- Where: on the Rhine embankment next to the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament and the Rheinkniebrücke, at the edge of the MedienHafen.
- Built: 1979 to 1981; handed over on 1 December 1981 and opened to the public on 1 March 1982.
- By: architect Harald Deilmann; the light clock is by the artist Horst H. Baumann.
- What it is today: a working telecommunications tower with an observation deck and bar at 168 metres and a revolving restaurant at 172.5 metres.
- Time needed: about an hour for the trip up and the views; a few minutes from the riverbank if you only want to read the clock.
Building a landmark for the phone network
Düsseldorf's first telecommunications tower, built in 1960–61 on a hill near Gerresheim, was only 75 metres tall and soon ran out of room for new antennas. The Deutsche Bundespost needed a new tower close to the main telephone exchange in the city centre, and the city wanted something people could visit. The site by the Rhine next to the Rheinkniebrücke met both needs. An architecture competition began in 1977, and one of its conditions was a tower shape clearly different from existing ones. Late in 1978 Harald Deilmann won with a simple design whose cabin flares out like a goblet.
Work started on 20 January 1979. The shaft rose in sections 2.5 metres high using climbing formwork, a method normally used for cooling towers, while a climbing crane grew alongside it. The cabin was glazed in March 1981, the antenna mast was lifted on in April, and Baumann installed his light clock on 24 November 1981. More than 7,500 cubic metres of concrete went into the tower. A digital TV antenna added in 2004 took it from 234.2 to its present height of 240.5 metres.
What to look for
- The light clock: the Lichtzeitpegel runs down the side of the shaft facing the Old Town. It is a 24-hour clock read from top to bottom in three pairs of sections: hours, minutes and seconds, tens first and then units. Count the lit lamps in each section to get the time.
- The goblet-shaped cabin: Deilmann's design is easy to recognise from far along the river, with the viewing and restaurant floors packed into the flared top.
- The view from 168 metres: on a clear day you see the river bend, the Old Town roofs, the bridges over the Rhine and the cranes and towers of the harbour.
- The revolving restaurant: the dining floor at 172.5 metres turns a full circle slowly, so the view changes while you eat.
- The tower at night: after dark the clock lights stand out best against the shaft, seen from the promenade.
A tower twice as tall as Eiffel's?
The name Rheinturm is older than the tower. Before the First World War, the German steelworks association proposed a 'Rheinturm' for Düsseldorf: a 500-metre steel lattice tower meant to beat the Eiffel Tower by 200 metres, with two of its four legs resting on the arches of a Rhine bridge. The structurally doubtful plan was never built. The city had to wait until 1981 for its tower, half as tall and made of concrete instead of steel.
Tips for your visit
- Go up on a clear day, ideally late afternoon, so you see the city in daylight and then the lights come on below you.
- Learn to read the clock before you arrive: it is fun to check the time from the Rhine promenade or the Old Town.
- Check opening times before you go; the viewing level is occasionally closed for private events and on some holidays.
- Combine the tower with a walk through the MedienHafen and then north along the river promenade into the Old Town.
Nearby
- MedienHafen: the old harbour turned media district, known for Frank Gehry's twisted Neuer Zollhof buildings. It starts right next to the tower.
- Landtag NRW: the round parliament building of North Rhine-Westphalia, directly beside the tower on the river.
- Rhine embankment promenade: the riverside walk that leads from the tower to the Old Town, lined with steps where people sit and watch the boats.
- Altstadt: the Old Town with St Lambertus Basilica, the Burgplatz and the Old Town Hall, a pleasant walk north along the river.
See Düsseldorf with World City Trail
Our Düsseldorf scavenger hunt turns the Old Town into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around two hours, with about 24 minutes of walking. It includes St Lambertus Basilica, the Old Town Hall and the Kunstsammlung, all in the Old Town, a walk along the river from the tower.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Düsseldorf.
Play the Düsseldorf scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Düsseldorf →
Play the outdoor escape game in Düsseldorf →
Facts checked in October 2026.