4500 x 6900 px | 38,1 x 58,4 cm | 15 x 23 inches | 300dpi
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The Zizkov TV tower, despite looking like a 1950s moon rocket, was actually built just before the fall of the Iron Curtain. One of its original functions was to block (propaganda) frequencies coming from the West. Today, the Orwellian tower helps to make sure Czechs get to see all the bad American TV shows they can consume. The views from the lookout tower are breathtaking. The Zizkov Television Tower is the new landmark of Prague, Czech Republic, which was built between 1985 and 1992. It looms above the skyline of Prague on top of a hill in the district of Zizkov, from which it takes its name. The structure is of a very unconventional design: it consists of three concrete pillars, which carry cabinets for the transmitters, a restaurant and cafe, and three observation rooms. The tower stands at 216 metres high, with the observation decks at 100 metres and the tower restaurant and cafe situated at 63 metres in the lower 'pods'. At a surprising speed of 4m/s, the lifts do not take long to travel this distance. The tower weighs 11800 tons and is also used as meteorological observatory. It belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers. Like many examples of communist-era brutalist architecture in Central and Eastern Europe, the TV tower is generally resented and despised by the locals. Although official criticism during the communist era was impossible, unofficially the tower was criticized for its 'megalomania', its 'jarring' effect on the Prague skyline, and for destroying part of a Jewish cemetery (which includes Franz Kafka's grave) situated near the tower's foundations. However, the official line stands that the cemetery was moved some time before the tower was conceived. Rumours also circulated about the tower being used to jam incoming western radio transmissions (especially Radio Free Europe) or as a communications tower for use by Warsaw Pact forces in the event of an attack on NATO. The Czechs are often mystified as to why visitors (especially from
