thumb|Ještěd mountain with the tower
thumb|Ještěd model on display in the [[National Technical Museum (Prague)|National Technical Museum in Prague]]
thumb|Restaurant ramp
Ještěd Tower () is a television transmitter on top of Mount Ještěd near Liberec in the Czech Republic. Measuring , it is made of reinforced concrete shaped in a "hyperboloid" form. The tower was designed by architect Karel Hubáček, who was assisted by Zdeněk Patrman, involved in building statics, and by Otakar Binar, who designed the interior furnishing. It took the team three years to finalize the structure design (1963–1966). The construction itself took seven years to finish (1966–1973).
The hyperboloid shape was chosen since it naturally extends the silhouette of the hill and, moreover, resists the extreme climate conditions on the summit of Mount Ještěd. The design combines the operation of a mountaintop hotel and a television transmitter. The hotel and restaurant are located in the lowest sections of the tower. Before construction of the hotel, two huts stood near the mountain summit: one was built in the middle of the 19th century, and the other was added in the early 20th century. Both buildings had a wooden structure, and both burned to the ground in the 1960s.
The tower is one of the dominant features of the North Bohemian landscape. The gallery on the ground floor and the restaurant on the first offers views as far as Poland and Germany. The tower has been on the list of Czech cultural monuments since 1998, becoming a national cultural monument in 2006. In 2007, it was entered on the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Access
The monument is accessible by road and by the Ještěd cable car from the foot of the mountain. However since a crash in 2021, the system has been closed indefinitely.
Construction
After the existing Ještěd lodge burned down in January 1963, a decision was made by Restaurace Liberec (the company that used to manage the burned-down lodges) and the Prague Radio Communications Administration to build a new complex on the summit of Mount Ještěd, which would accommodate a mountain hotel including a restaurant and at the same time would serve as a TV signal transmitter. An architectural competition for the building design was announced. It took place in February 1963 on the Liberec Stavoprojekt premises. Eleven architects/teams took part in the competition, including individual architects Otakar Binar, Jiří Svoboda, Pavel Švancer, Ota Nykodým, Karel Hubáček, Jaromír Syrovátko, Miroslav Ulmann, Jaromír Vacek and teams Josef Patrný, Jiří Hubka, V. Netolička, Miloš Technik, and Svatopluk Technik. Hubáček's design was the only one complying with both the requirements. Experts from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Liberec Institute of Textile and Mechanical Engineering helped to overcome the technical difficulties. The technological equipment and procedures that were put together were protected by the Czechoslovak patents. The foundation is laid in the altitude of 1004.75 metres. The load-bearing element of the structure consists of two concentric reinforced concrete cylinders with inner diameters of 4.4 and 12.5 metres (and wall thickness of 30 centimetres each); the narrower is 42.4 metres high, the wider (external) is 22.5 metres high. Individual floors are suspended on these columns on steel structures, starting with the second floor.
thumb|Restaurant interior
Floors
In the basement of the building, there are engine rooms and warehouses. The first floor is shared by the administrative offices and the television transmission hall that is connected to the antenna systems on the ninth floor by means of an elevator and an emergency staircase built inside the central tube. The rest of the first floor is occupied by the restaurant kitchen. On the second floor there is an observation terrace, a buffet and the main entrance hall with the reception desk. The hall is dominated by a suspended staircase leading to an observation restaurant on the third floor. began broadcasting television signal
Awards and accolades <span class="anchor" id="Awards"></span>
In 1964, the Association of Architects of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic awarded the Ještěd Tower design on its annual Architectural Works 1962–63 exhibit. In spring of 1969, at a time when the building had not yet been completed, Karel Hubáček was awarded the Auguste Perret Prize for the creative use of technology in architecture by the International Union of Architects. It is the most significant award ever achieved by a Czech architect. In September 2005, in the iDNES.cz "Seven Wonders of the Czech Republic" readers survey the tower ranked as second being defeated by the Dlouhé stráně Hydro Power Plant.
On 26 March 1998, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic registered the building as an immovable cultural monument. In January 2006, the building was declared a national cultural monument. On 29 May 2007, it was added to the Indicative List of Cultural Property of the Czech Republic, of which buildings are nominated for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.