History of the world's tallest buildings of world's tallest building was borne by shorter buildings. St. Mary's Church in Stralsund became the world's tallest building after the collapse of Lincoln Cathedral's spire. The central tower of St. Pierre's Cathedral was tallest from 1569 until it collapsed in 1573, making St. Mary's the tallest once again. In 1647, the bell tower of St. Mary's burned down, making the shorter Strasbourg Cathedral the world's tallest building. It was not until the completion of the Ulm Minster in 1890 that the world's tallest building was again also the tallest building ever constructed, surpassing the original configuration of Lincoln Cathedral.
History of the world's tallest buildings tallest building by any criteria. It has the highest architectural element, tip and occupied floor, and is indeed the tallest structure of any kind ever built, surpassing the (now destroyed) Warsaw radio mast. Since the completion of the Washington Monument in 1884, the world's tallest building has not usually also been the world's tallest "structure". The exceptions are 1930–1954, when the Chrysler Building and then the Empire State building surpassed the Eiffel Tower (to be surpassed in turn by a succession of broadcast masts, starting with the Griffin Television Tower in Oklahoma), and from 2010 with the completion of Burj