Berlin's citizen, upset about the demolition of the antique city center by the communist government, soon noticed an unexpected side effect of the tiled stainless steel dome: When the sun was shining, its reflection appeared in the form of a cross all over East Germany's socialist Metropolis.
Berliner's, knowing that the cross would annoy their rulers tremendously, soon nicknamed the TV Tower Saint Walter (after communist leader Walter Ulbricht). The reflection itself was soon known as The Pope's Revenge.
Its worldwide fame was acknowledged by US President Ronald Reagan, who referred to it in his "Tear down this wall" speech on 12 June 1987:
... they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexander Platz. Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower’s one major flaw, treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the Sun strikes that sphere – that sphere that towers over all Berlin – the light makes the sign of the cross. |
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