Einstein Tower

Potsdam-Süd, Germany

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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This expressionist solar observatory in Potsdam's Albert Einstein Science Park was designed by Erich Mendelsohn and completed in 1924 atop the Telegraphenberg. Built to house a solar telescope engineered by astronomer Erwin Finlay-Freundlich, the tower was conceived to conduct observations and experiments testing Albert Einstein's relativity theory—a project Einstein himself supported, though he never conducted research there. Today it remains a working solar observatory operated by the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, serving as both a scientific instrument and a striking example of expressionist architecture.