Europaturm
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Europaturm
Radio transmission point Frankfurt 16
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| Basic data | ||||
| Place: | Frankfurt-Bockenheim | |||
| Country: | Hesse | |||
| Country: | Germany | |||
| Altitude : | 119 m above sea level NHN | |||
| Coordinates: 50 ° 8 ′ 7.1 ″ N , 8 ° 39 ′ 16.9 ″ E | ||||
| Use: | Telecommunications tower , broadcasting station | |||
| Accessibility: | Transmission tower not open to the public | |||
| Owner : | German radio tower | |||
| Tower data | ||||
| Construction time : | 1974-1979 | |||
| Operating time: | since 1979 | |||
| Total height : | 337.5 m | |||
| Operation room: | 227 m | |||
| Closure of the viewing platform: | 1999 | |||
| Data on the transmission system | ||||
| Last modification (antenna) : | 2004 | |||
| Waveband : | FM transmitter | |||
| Radio : | VHF broadcasting | |||
| Send types: | DVB-T, DVB-H, DAB , cable headend , cellular radio , directional radio , amateur radio service | |||
| Position map | ||||
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The Europaturm is a telecommunications tower in Frankfurt am Main . With a height of 337.5 m, it is the second highest in Germany after the Berlin TV tower .
designation
The now official name Europaturm is used in publications, but otherwise rarely in general. When it was commissioned, it was known as the "Telecommunications Tower Frankfurt". The most common name, however, has been the "television tower" since its construction to this day, although this was never officially and at least initially completely out of place, since until the 1990s no television signals were transmitted via the tower, only data, telephone and and radio signals.
The tower is located in the Bockenheim district not far from the headquarters of the Deutsche Bundesbank . Its location at Ginnheimer Stadtweg 90 is mostly assigned to Ginnheim , as this is north of the federal motorway 66 , which is wrongly viewed as the district boundary.
Based on the similar shape of the vegetable asparagus it is therefore "Ginnheimer asparagus" and in the Frankfurt popularly neuhessisch "Ginnemer Schbarschl" or just simply "Ginni".
Architecture and construction technology
The construction of the tower planned by the architect Johannes Möhrle with the collaboration of Peter Metzger and Erwin Heinle began in 1974. Five years later it could be put into operation. The pure construction costs, without transmission technology, amounted to 75 million German marks , which would correspond to today's purchasing power of approx. 87,000,000 euros. With a height of 331.15 meters (when it was completed), it has been the tallest free-standing structure in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1979 . In Berlin on Alexanderplatz standing Berlin TV Tower is indeed a total of about 30 meters higher, however this only because of its significantly longer antenna. If you only consider the height of the actual building structure (i.e. without antenna), the Frankfurt European Tower is higher. The pulpit of the Frankfurt Tower hangs around 20 meters higher than the Berlin version.
The ring foundation for the tower is 18.50 meters deep in the marl soil, which was completely filled with cement and silicate to make it load-bearing. The tower shaft was raised with climbing formwork, a ring-shaped casting mold on which the workers poured concrete meter by meter upwards. The shaft tapers towards the top: it is twenty meters in diameter at the base, eleven meters below the pulpit. It is 227 meters high, has six floors, a diameter of 59 meters, making it the widest in the world. It enables a unique view of the entire Rhine-Main area .
The architects wanted the clear geometric shape they created, consisting of a slim, conical tower shaft and a flat double truncated cone of the pulpit, to be disturbed as little as possible by the large directional radio shell antennas that were to be added at the time. For this reason, the conical wall of the tower shaft in the area of the antenna carrier running under the flat roof with a height of several meters jumps back in a ring shape. The shell antennas were then not set up with the feeding horn pointing downwards, as usual, but hung upside down under the ceiling in this recess. The inclined front surface of the shell antennas then aligned with the adapted outer contour of the pulpit, the angle of which was specially adapted to the incline of the antenna front surface. When the antenna is fully equipped, the impression of a smooth truncated cone was created. However, this particular design became obsolete in the 1990s, when the large shell antennas lost their function and disappeared from the tower, leaving the now completely empty wide ring in the upper contour of the pulpit.
In the tower, several large elevators were installed in the pulpit for the expected visitor traffic from the restaurant business, which lead to the pulpit. An additional smaller elevator takes the maintenance staff up to the upper shaft to the upper platforms. However, since this elevator is located outside the tower axis, its track had to be laid against the conical outer wall in the upper part of the narrowing shaft and thus bent a few degrees from the vertical.
At night, the antenna platforms are illuminated in magenta , the corporate color of the current owner, Deutsche Telekom .
The tower has been a listed building since October 2019.
Antenna change
On September 4, 2004, due to the imminent start of digital terrestrial television, the antenna at the top of the tower was replaced with the help of a Russian double-rotor helicopter from the Swiss company Heliswiss . Since the antenna weighs a total of six tons, it was assembled in four parts. Today the Frankfurt telecommunications tower has a slimmer tip, which has increased its total height by 6.5 meters. The height of the European tower is now 337.5 meters.
use
Original usage
The telecommunications high-rise , built from 1951 to 1956 (demolished in 2005) - at the time the second-tallest building in downtown Frankfurt after the Kaiserdom - initially also served as an antenna carrier for the radio links that have become very important in the telecommunications network. With the construction of much larger high-rise buildings in the immediate vicinity, however , the operation of the radio link became more and more difficult or even impossible, as these depend on a clear view between the transmitting and receiving points. As a solution, the Deutsche Bundespost, which was responsible for telecommunications at the time, decided to build the telecommunications tower towering over the high-rise buildings. The building site was chosen as the next natural obstacle outside the city center with an unobstructed field in the direction of the Taunus.
On the two upper floors of the pulpit are the technical rooms, which previously also contained the manned so-called "clay star". This formed the central node in the network of the then public radio, and here the program transfers and distribution to the broadcasters were switched by hand for the broadcasters.
The two lower floors of the pulpit were intended for visitors with a restaurant. The operating company Skyline , which at the time also operated the visitor platforms on Hamburg's Heinrich Hertz Tower , paid an amount in the millions for the construction of the tower. However, the company went bankrupt a few years later, since then times without gastronomic use have alternated with uses of various types in these rooms. Most recently, a restaurant and a discotheque were operated on the lowest floor of the pulpit. In 1999 the Europaturm was closed to the public because the requirements of the fire protection regulations could only have been met with millions of euros.
Due to the closure of the visitor service and the replacement of radio relay technology in its previous form, the tower has almost completely lost its original purpose.
Todays use
As the successor to the Deutsche Bundespost, Deutsche Telekom now operates the tower and uses it as a receiving station for satellite signals and distributes them from here by radio terrestrial or via cable network via Frankfurt and southern Hesse . In addition, there are still some directional and cell phone antennas on the tower.
Frequencies and Programs
Analog radio (FM)
In the case of directed radiation, the main radiation directions are given in degrees in the antenna diagram.
|
Frequency [MHz] |
program | RDS PS | RDS PI | Regionalization |
ERP [kW] |
Antenna pattern round (ND) / directional (D) |
Polarization horizontal (H) / vertical (V) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91.8 | Radio X | _Radio_X | 1361 | - | 0.1 | D (70–110 °, 140–300 °, 340–10 °) | H |
| 95.1 | Aerial Frankfurt 95.1 | FRANKFRT | 1362 | - | 0.2 | D (80–110 °, 160–220 °, 260–300 °) | H |
| 97.6 | harmony.fm | harmony_ | 1364 | 0.1 | D (80 ° -110 °, 160 ° -220 °, 260 ° -300 °) | H | |
| 100.2 | planet radio | _planet_ | D369 | - | 1 | ND | H |
| 101.4 | Radio Bob | RADIOBOB | D46A | - | 0.2 | ND | H |
| 105.4 | inactive (was also in operation with 97.1 MHz Ginnheim Raimundstraße) | - | 0.25 | D (220-320 °) | H |
The four best-known radio programs of Hessischer Rundfunk that can be received in Hessen ( hr1 , hr2 , hr3 and hr4 ), the private broadcaster Hit Radio FFH and the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk are broadcast for the Rhine-Main area by the broadcaster on the Großer Feldberg .
The hr-info transmitters on 103.9 MHz [0.5 KW ND H] and You FM on 90.4 MHz [0.5 KW ND H] are located on the main tower .
A smaller filler transmitter for hr2 on 87.9 MHz [0.1 KW ND H] is housed on the hr radio station in Bertramstrasse . Germany radio on 97.6 MHz [0.3 KW D (90-100 °, 130-0 °) H] was also in operation there until September 2008 , until this frequency was relocated to the Europaturm.
Another transmitter on 97.1 MHz [0.2 KW D (350–160 °) H], from Radyo Metropol FM , formerly harmony.fm, is located in neighboring Ginnheim, but on a high-rise in Raimundstrasse. Due to the frequency situation, the 97.1 MHz can still be received better than the 105.4 MHz from the Europaturm, which is currently strongly disrupted by the 105.3 MHz at Kreuzberg (Rhön) , a basic network transmitter of the Bavarian radio with the B5 program . At the Ginnheim Raimundstrasse location there is another transmitter on 107.5 MHz [0.2 KW D (10–120 °, 160–200 °, 260–350 °) H] from Radio Teddy , which until September 1, 2015 is from Klassik Radio was used.
The 101.4 MHz frequency of Radio Bob is operated in a single frequency network with another transmitter in the Wiesbaden Uplink Network .
Digital radio (DAB)
DAB or DMB is broadcast in vertical polarization and also in single-frequency operation with other transmitters. DAB started here in Band III VHF on July 1, 2002 and in the L-Band on January 1, 2003. The transmission began on January 1, 2001 from Großer Feldberg .
The mobile phone TV operator MFD has returned the licenses for digital mobile television (DMB). All projects in Germany relating to this standard have been discontinued. For the transmission of mobile phone TV, DVB-H has prevailed , not least due to the approval of DVB-H by the EU Commission.
Digital television
DVB-T
→ Main article: DVB-T Rhein-Main
On October 4, 2004 and finally on December 6, 2004, DVB-T in single frequency network (Single Frequency Network) operation gradually started at the Europaturm . Until May 29, 2006, when the remaining areas of Hesse were converted to DVB-T, this single-frequency network was the first of its kind in Hesse. After the VHF K8 was cleared and various UHF channels were moved, the occupancy continued until DVB-T was switched off on March 29, 2017 like this:
| channel |
Frequency [MHz] |
Multiplex | Programs in multiplex |
ERP [kW] |
Antenna diagram round (ND) / directional (D) |
Polarization horizontal (H) / vertical (V) |
Modulation method |
FEC |
Guard interval |
Bit rate [Mbit / s] |
SFN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22nd | 482 | ZDFmobil bouquet | 50 | ND | V | 16-QAM (8k mode) |
2/3 | 1/4 | 13.27 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel, Rimberg ( Knüll ) | |
| 34 | 578 | RTL-Hessen | 50 | ND | V | 16-QAM (8k mode) |
2/3 | 1/4 | 13.27 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel | |
| 37 | 602 | ARD-HR | 50 | ND | V | 16-QAM (8k mode) |
2/3 | 1/4 | 13.27 | Großer Feldberg ( Taunus ), Europaturm ( Frankfurt ) , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel (Taunus near Wiesbaden ), Würzberg ( Odenwald ) | |
| 39 | 618 | HR-Rhein Main | 50 | ND | V | 16-QAM (8k mode) |
2/3 | 1/4 | 13.27 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel | |
| 52 | 722 | Rhine Main Mux |
|
50 | ND | V | 16-QAM (8k mode) |
2/3 | 1/4 | 13.27 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel |
| 54 | 738 | Pro7Sat1-Hessen + RP | 50 | ND | V | 16-QAM (8k mode) |
2/3 | 1/4 | 13.27 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel |
In addition, depending on the location, other DVB-T locations can be received in the Rhine-Main area. More on this here: Additionally receivable DVB-T locations
DVB-T2 HD
The broadcast of the high-resolution DVB-T2 HD in the Rhine-Main area began on May 31, 2016 . Since then, Das Erste, Pro Sieben, Sat 1, RTL, Vox and ZDF can be received in HD via antenna on channel 59 with 50 kW from the Europaturm. The transmission systems on the Großer Feldberg and the Hohe Wurzel telecommunications tower in Wiesbaden also broadcast the HD signal on channel 59. Regular operation of DVB-T2 started on March 29, 2017.
| channel |
Frequency (MHz) |
Multiplex | Programs in multiplex |
ERP (kW) |
Antenna pattern round (ND) / directional (D) |
Polarization horizontal (H) / vertical (V) |
Modulation method |
FEC |
Guard interval |
Bit rate (Mbit / s) |
SFN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22nd | 482 | ZDFmobil | 50 | ND | V | 64-QAM ( 16k mode) |
1/2 | 19/128 | 21.50 | Großer Feldberg ( Taunus ), Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel (Taunus near Wiesbaden ), Darmstadt-Weiterstadt Darmbach, Rimberg ( Knüll ) | |
| 25th | 506 |
ProSiebenSat.1 Media Media Broadcast , freenet TV |
|
50 | ND | V | 64 QAM (32 k mode) |
2/3 | 1/16 | 27.80 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel, Darmstadt-Weiterstadt Darmbach |
| 31 | 554 |
RTL Group Media Broadcast , freenet TV |
50 | ND | V | 64 QAM (32 k mode) |
2/3 | 1/16 | 27.50 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel, Darmstadt-Weiterstadt Darmbach | |
| 34 | 578 | ARD regional (hr) Rhein-Main | 50 | ND | V | 64-QAM ( 16k mode) |
1/2 | 19/128 | 21.65 | Großer Feldberg, Europaturm , telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel, Darmstadt-Weiterstadt Darmbach, Würzberg ( Odenwald ) | |
| 42 | 642 | ARD Digital (hr) | 50 | ND | V | 64-QAM ( 16k mode) |
1/2 | 19/128 | 18.00 | Großer Feldberg , Europaturm, telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel, Darmstadt-Weiterstadt Darmbach, Rimberg | |
| 47 | 682 | Mixed private Rhein-Main Media Broadcast , freenet TV |
|
50 | ND | V | 64 QAM (32 k mode) |
2/3 | 1/16 | 26.40 | Großer Feldberg , Europaturm, telecommunications tower Hohe Wurzel, Darmstadt-Weiterstadt Darmbach |
Digital mobile television for handhelds (DVB-H)
The DVB-H standard was created for mobile devices with a small display. It offers a very robust signal. Some of the services that are transmitted here should be freely available, and some should also be subscribed to. It is currently a test phase. The construction of the network is in progress. Ideally, DVB-H, like DVB-T, is broadcast from several locations in single-frequency operation.
Currently out of order
| channel |
Frequency [MHz] |
Multiplex | Programs in multiplex |
ERP [kW] |
Antenna diagram round (ND) / directional (D) |
Polarization horizontal (H) / vertical (V) |
Modulation method |
FEC |
Guard interval |
Bit rate [Mbit / s] |
SFN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 642 | Mobile 3.0 test |
|
100 | ND | V | QPSK | 1/2 | 1/4 | 4.98 | Europaturm ( Frankfurt ) |
On November 2, 2008, the broadcast of DVB-H at this location was stopped for the time being. The tests are now complete. It is planned to undertake a large-scale restart of the system under a new operator consortium. When this will happen is not yet known.
Amateur radio
| Relay type | Callsign | tape | Output frequency | Input frequency | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FM relay | DB0HTV | 2 m | 145.750 MHz | 145.150 MHz | with Echolink gateway |
| ATV relay | DB0HTV | 23 cm , 3 cm , 13 cm | 1278.250 MHz, 10226 MHz | 2328 MHz | Antennas polarized horizontally |
| DMR relay | DB0HTV | 70 cm | 439.425 MHz | 431.825 MHz | DMRPlus network (Hytera) |
| HAMNET location | DB0HTV | 6 cm | 5725 MHz | 5725 MHz | HAMNET backbone split with DB0NDF and DB0HR |
Movie
- The giant of Frankfurt , documentary, Hessischer Rundfunk 1980, 45 minutes.
literature
- Dietrich Elias (Ed.): Year book of electrical telecommunications , volume 25, Verlag für Wissenschaft und Leben, Bad Windsheim 1974, pp. 56–57, ISBN 3-87862-125-6 ISSN 0075-2487 .
- Telecommunication tower Frankfurt , Wetzlardruck, Frankfurt 1978.
- Wilhelm Zellner, H.-G. Vögele: The supporting structure of the tower pulpit of the telecommunications tower in Frankfurt in: Stahlbau , February 1981, No. 2.
- Wilhelm Zellner: The telecommunications tower in Frankfurt / May (FRG) in: IABSE Structures, C-3/78, pp. 2–3. ( here online )
See also
- List of high-rise buildings in Frankfurt am Main
- List of transmitters in Hessen
- Transmitting systems on the Großer Feldberg
- List of the television towers and transmission systems of Deutsche Telekom
Web links
- Website of the Taunus-Relais-Group
- Pictures and sketches of the Europaturm
- The Europaturm - lonely peak , Frankfurter Rundschau from November 8, 2008
- Vacancy at the highest level , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from November 28, 2010
Individual evidence
- ↑ The telecommunications tower in Frankfurt is now a listed building. Frankfurt-Live, November 15, 2019, accessed on November 17, 2019 .
- ↑ Stephan Munder: UPLINK operates VHF simulcast in Hessen. July 1, 2016, accessed July 2, 2016 .
- ↑ Reception areas of DVB-T2 HD - first stage from May 31, 2016 as a PDF file
- ↑ DB0HTV in the HAMNET IP database
- ↑ German amateur repeater HAMNET radio station