Constructed between 1924 and 1926 to designs by the architect Heinrich Straumer, it was inaugurated on 3 September 1926, on the occasion of the opening of the third Große Deutsche Funkausstellung (Great German Radio Exhibition) in the grounds of the Messe Berlin trade fair in the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.

Nicknamed der lange Lulatsch ("the lanky lad"), the tower is one of the best-known points of interest in the city of Berlin and, while no longer used for broadcasting purposes, it remains a protected monument.

For comparison, the Eiffel Tower sits on a square 129 meters to a side, giving surface-area-to-height ratio of 1:2.3.

However, this was impractical, because visitors would have been vulnerable to massive electric shocks, so the tower was later grounded via its elevator shaft.

On March 22, 1935, the first regular television program in the world was broadcast from an aerial on the top of the tower.