True Stories & Fiction from Frankfurt

Frankfurt’s 116-metre university tower, built in 1972, has been demolished using almost one ton of explosives. Police estimate that 30,000 people gathered in the center of Germany’s financial hub Frankfurt to watch the spectacular demolition. I was one of the lucky spectators standing only 250 metres away from the collapsing tower at 10:03 a.m. on Sunday morning, covering this event with some stunning pictures (please see more below). The “AfE Tower” is the highest-ever building in Europe to have been demolished using explosives.

10… 9… 8… Eduard Reisch, the master chief for this big blast, used a megaphone counting down to zero. 3… 2… 1… Silence! — A massive blast a million times heavier than the biggest New Year’s cracker followed by a strong air pressure wave reaching my chest and a shock wave making the ground under my feet shake like a little earthquake. Never before had I ever experienced such a big construction explode. This was spectacular!

For me it was especially amazing to see how precisely the group of thirty-five demolition experts had planned this to not damage any surrounding buildings or even trees standing only a few metres away from the demolition site. “It is almost hundred percent possible to blow up such a building without hurting people or neighboring buildings,” Eduard Reisch said to media representatives before the explosion. According to media reports, barriers of up to six-metres-high were erected around the skyscraper to prevent any damage to nearby constructions. Water canisters, each containing 1,000 liters, were blown up along with the building to stop too much dust being produced. Two new high-rise office buildings are to be constructed on the site.