Einstein Tower (Einsteinturm)
A building that looks poured rather than built, made to catch sunlight and weigh it against Einstein’s theory.
At a glance
On the wooded Telegrafenberg hill outside Potsdam stands one of the strangest buildings of its age. Erich Mendelsohn designed the Einstein Tower between 1919 and 1921 as an astrophysical observatory: a solar telescope whose purpose was to test a prediction of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Its streamlined, sculptural form is a icon of Expressionist architecture.
Key facts
- Location: Telegrafenberg, Potsdam
- Architect: Erich Mendelsohn
- Built: 1919–1921 (inaugurated 1924)
- Style: Expressionism
- Function: solar observatory, still a working research instrument
History
Einstein’s general relativity predicted that gravity would shift the colour of light leaving the Sun. The astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich wanted an instrument precise enough to look for that shift, and Mendelsohn gave it a home.
The young architect dreamed of a form moulded in poured concrete; the practicalities of the early 1920s meant much of it was built in brick and rendered to look seamless. It went into service in the 1920s and, after wartime damage and several restorations, still works as a solar observatory today.
What you see
There are almost no straight lines. Windows are scooped out of rounded walls; the tower swells and tapers like something shaped by hand. It houses a vertical telescope that drops sunlight down to instruments below ground. Expressionism rarely left a built object this complete, and this useful.
Practical information
- Open: exterior viewable; interior by guided tour on open days
- Cost: free outside; tours ticketed
- Best for: the sculptural form, best in raking light
- Time needed: 20–40 minutes
Getting there
The Telegrafenberg science park is a walk or short bus ride south of Potsdam Hauptbahnhof, which is reached from central Berlin in about 40 minutes by regional train and S-Bahn.
Nearby
- Telegrafenberg — the wider science campus of observatories and institutes
- Park Sanssouci — the royal gardens of Potsdam, to the west
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica / Wikipedia — Einstein Tower
- Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) — official history
- Wikimedia Commons — image source and licence
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