Fritz Leonhardt was the creator, designer and constructor of the Stuttgart Television Tower; one could also say "the architect", although he was actually a structural engineer by profession.

Leonhardt was not merely interested in technical perfection - he also wanted his designs to be aesthetic. He himself said of the Television Tower, "With this building we seem to have succeeded in proving once again that it is possible to design a technical necessity in an aesthetic form that gives pleasure to people as well as being of service to them."

Outstanding pioneering achievement

At the age of 44, in the middle of his life, this structural engineer from Stuttgart constructed a tower using a building material which had previously been used for bridges, but never for towers: prestressed concrete. But it was not only this new material that presented a challange: Leonhardt also visualised a tower with an attractive shape that would be accessible to the general public, with catering facilities and an observation platform.

Today it is beyond dispute: the Stuttgart Television Tower was an outstanding pioneering achievement on the part of Leonhardt. Jörg Schlaich, the internationally acclaimed structural engineer and Professor Emeritus at Stuttgart University, wrote: "There may have been some slight improvements in later towers, but never really anything new. The Stuttgart Television Tower remains the unparalleled original."

Many challenges

Leonhardt was a renowned engineer who has known in particular as a builder bridges. Building a tower was in many respects a challenge: would the slim construction withstand all the pressures? The foundations would have to support the 3000-tonne weight of the shaft. The elevator and its counterweight must on no account demolish the foundations if it crashed. Gales or earthquakes must not be able to damage the structure. Wind noise and wind pressure hat to be taken into account, as did safety precautions against thunderstorms and lightning. The natural movement of the Tower had to be reduced to a minimum. While considering all these factors, aesthetics always played an important role - while not forgetting that the Tower was, first and foremost, a functional building and that many people were waiting impatiently for better television reception.

As far as safety of the Tower was concerned, Leonhardt made particular effort. He and hies colleagues almost doubled the wind pressure requisites of the standard building regulations and made the Tower 2.5 times safer. The Tower would survive unscathed a storm four times more severe than any hitherto experienced in the region. It would only break off or collapse if wind pressure were 5-6 times in excess of this.

For their calculations, engineers at that time had neither electronic calculators nor computers at their disposal, but only slide rules. Rubber bands were used to imitate tensile force and loadbearing capacities.

From a gamble to a landmark

In spite of all the safety precautions, the Tower was still a gamble. Even if Leonhardt had been used to working with prestressed concrete when building bridges and houses, he lacked experience in building towers. There was also a little practical experience in Europe regarding the use of aluminium cladding. Furthermore, there were doubts as to how wind and weather influences would affect the construction process.

The fact that the Television Tower was actually built at this point, despite the many question marks, is due to a chain of bold decisions. Leonhardt, the initiator, succeeded in inspiring others with enthusiasm for his ideas. The then directors of the Süddeutscher Rundfunk continued to endorse the project in spite of exploding costs. An experienced architect was found in the person of Erwin Heinle. As site supervisor, Heinle managed to find a solution to an problem that cropped up during construction. In addition, he was responsible for the interior fittings and the buildings at the foot of the Tower.

In the mid 1950s, Stuttgart was still a city scarred by war damage and was in the middle of a building boom. Many other buildings were under construction at this time. 1956 saw not only the inauguration of the Television Tower, but also the new town hall, the Liederhalle and the bridge in Obertürkheim.

Leonhardt wrote in an article in the Stuttgarter Zeitung for the occasion of the inauguration, "On its inauguration day, I harbour the wish that this building will give increasing pleasure to my fellow citizens, that as many as possible will come from far and near to enjoy the magnificent views over our Swabian homeland from up on high, and that Stuttgart´s inhabitants will then gradually come to be proud of their Television Tower."