europe / originals

list of tall buildings in 1928



this collection includes buildings of least 40 meters tall that were completed before 1945. Buildings that are shorter than 40 meters but possess skyscraperesque features are included in this list, though they are not ranked

giraffes
during this period, a significant number of 'giraffe' buildings were constructed. A giraffe is defined as a low-rise building with a tower integrated into its design. To qualify for inclusion in this collection, the tower section must have habitable floors occupying more than fifty percent of its total height

color codes
  later reconstructed      later demolished

# name city height usage year
1 Royal Liver Building Liverpool 104 office 1911
2 Victoria Tower London 99 storage 1860
3 Ullsteinhaus Berlin 83 office 1927
4 Siemensturm Berlin 71 office 1918
5 Círculo de Bellas Artes Madrid 67 cultural 1926
6 Hansahochhaus Cologne 65 office 1925
7 Ginzburg House   Kyiv 63 residential 1912
8 Derzhprom Kharkiv 63 office 1928
9 Södra Kungstornet Stockholm 61 office 1924
10 Tagblatt-Turm Stuttgart 61 office 1928
11 Behrensbau Berlin 60 office 1917
12 Borsigturm Berlin 60 office 1924
12 Norra Kungstornet Stockholm 60 office 1924
14 Sankt Erikspalatset Stockholm 58 residential / office 1910
15 De Inktpot Utrecht 58 office 1921
16 Rathaus Augsburg 57 city hall 1624
17 Midland Grand Hotel London 57 hotel 1873
18 Balmoral Hotel Edinburgh 56 hotel 1902
19 Wilhelm-Marx-Haus Düsseldorf 56 office 1924
20 Polska Akcyjna Spółka Telefoniczna Warsaw 52 office 1910
21 68 King William Street London 51 office 1922
22 Ballinhaus Hamburg 51 office 1924
23 Anzeiger-Hochhaus Hanover 51 office 1928
24 Mathematische Turm Kremsmünster 49 observatory / museum 1758
25 Queen Anne's Mansions   London 49 residential 1890
26 Philips Lichttoren Eindhoven 48 office 1921
27 Ernemann-Turm Dresden 48 office 1923
28 Strand Hotel Stockholm 47 hotel 1912
29 Sjömansinstitutet Stockholm 47 office 1914
30 Bau 15 Jena 47 office 1915
31 Siemens Schaltwerk-Hochhaus Berlin 47 factory 1928
32 Tower Building Liverpool 46 office 1908
33 Yusuf Ziya Pasha Mansion Istanbul 46 residential 1911
34 Fairy-Tale House   Saint Petersburg 45 residential 1909
35 Edificio Metrópolis Madrid 45 office 1911
36 The Langham London 44 hotel 1865
37 Grattacieli Gemelli 1 Milan 43 residential 1923
37 Grattacieli Gemelli 2 Milan 43 residential 1923
39 Adelaide House London 43 office 1925
40 Kraftwerk Klingenberg Berlin 43 office 1926
41 Grattacielo di via Vittorio Veneto La Spezia 43 residential 1927
42 City Chambers Edinburgh 42 office 1760
43 Witte Huis Rotterdam 42 office 1898
44 Stummhaus Düsseldorf 42 office 1925
45 Wasserturm des Dortmunder Südbahnhofs Dortmund 42 water tower / residential 1927
46 Westfalenhaus Dortmund 42 office 1928
47 Nirnsee House Moscow 41 residential 1915
48 Edificio del Banco Pastor en La Coruña La Coruña 41 office 1925
49 Narva-Turm Berlin 40 office 1909
50 Beyer-Bau Dresden 40 observatorium 1913
51 Cammann-Hochhaus Chemnitz 40 office 1925
51 Mosselprom House Moscow 40 residential 1925
53 Knorr-Bremse Gebäude Berlin 40 office 1927
- Palazzo Aedes Trieste 38 office 1928
- Gebouw Astoria Amsterdam 37 office 1905
- Hotel Savoy Łódź 37 hotel 1911
- Lietuvos geležinkeliai Vilnius 36 office 1903
- Market Street storehouse Dublin 36 storage 1904
- Afremov House Moscow 35 residential 1905
- De Utrecht Amsterdam 35 office 1906
- The Yellow Building Sofia 35 office 1914
- Galeries Lafayette Lyon 35 retail 1925
- Mittnachtbau Stuttgart 35 office 1928
- Hotel Admiralspalast Zabrze 33 hotel 1927
- Immeuble Cateland Lyon 31 residential 1911
- Hochhaus Glückauf Hanover 31 residential 1927
- Trinity Compound on Ilyinka Moscow 30 residential 1876
- Casa Lancia   Milan 30 office 1907
- Tour Chicago Paris 30 storage 1912
- Industriehaus Düsseldorf 30 office 1923
- Prinz-Georg-Straße 100 Düsseldorf 29 residential 1925
- 48 Rue de Valois Paris 26 hotel / residential 1781
- Oriel Chambers Liverpool 21 office 1864
- Ditherington Flax Mill Shrewsbury 17 factory 1797