German national radio stations
Deutschlandsender
(
German:
[?d??t?lant?z?nd?]
,
Radio Germany
), abbreviated
DLS
or
DS
, was one of the longest-established
radio broadcasting
stations in
Germany
. The name was used between 1926 and 1993 to denote a number of powerful stations designed to achieve all-Germany coverage.
History
[
edit
]
Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany
[
edit
]
Deutschlandsender I
at first was the name of a powerful transmitter situated at
Konigs Wusterhausen
in
Brandenburg
near
Berlin
, put into operation on 7 January 1926. The station was run by the
Deutsche Welle GmbH
, a commercial company – unconnected to today's similarly named
international broadcaster
– which had been set up by the
Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft
(RRG) network for nationally relaying programmes from Germany's nine regional broadcasting stations.
Broadcasting on
long wave
(182 kHz) from what was then a central position in the
German Reich
, the
Deutschlandsender I
transmitter enabled programmes from these stations to be heard throughout the country and its name was adopted as a station identification. The first programme broadcast was a concert from the RRG Berlin regional station, the Funk-Stunde AG. With effect from 1 January 1933, the Deutsche Welle company was renamed
Deutschlandsender GmbH
. Within a few weeks of this date the Nazi
Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
was to take over direct control of all broadcasting in Germany in the course of the
Gleichschaltung
process.
A second transmitter,
Deutschlandsender II
, broadcasting from nearby
Zeesen
, had been opened on 20 December 1927. Also in Brandenburg,
Deutschlandsender III
, then with a height of 337 m (1,106 ft) the world's second largest structure after the
Empire State Building
, started its transmissions on 19 May 1939 from
Herzberg
. These transmitters were destroyed and dismantled by the
Red Army
in 1945.
During
World War II
the name Deutschlandsender was used to denote the
long-wave
service which covered most of Germany (and indeed Europe) while the regional
medium-wave
stations were normally identified as
Reichssender [...]
with the name of the city at or near which they were based.
East Germany
[
edit
]
In the immediate post-war period, in 1947, a new long-wave radio transmitter, known as
Deutschlandsender IV
, was erected at Konigs Wusterhausen. From 1 May 1949, the
IV
was dropped and the station became known as simply the Deutschlandsender programme of what was to become the
Rundfunk der DDR
broadcaster. The transmissions from the newly established
German Democratic Republic
(GDR) aimed at listeners in
West Germany
. The long-wave frequency used was 185 kHz and the station also broadcast via short wave.
In 1952 the GDR government began a programme of centralisation, which included concentrating all broadcasting in
East Berlin
, and built a new studio centre in the
Oberschoneweide
district, known as the
Funkhaus Nalepastraße
. In September 1952, the short-wave Deutschlandsender service was renamed "Berlin I" and given a political programming emphasis. The long-wave Deutschlandsender service became "Berlin II", with an emphasis on culture and society. Both changes were, however, soon abandoned. In August 1953, the Deutschlandsender was relaunched as an "all-German" service, with FM coverage added.
A further reorganisation occurred when, in 1971, the State Broadcasting Committee of the GDR decided to merge the main station aimed at both sides of Berlin,
Berliner Welle
, with the Deutschlandsender to create
Stimme der DDR
("Voice of the GDR"). This new information and news service began in November 1972.
German reunification
[
edit
]
In 1989 the
Peaceful Revolution
in East Germany and the
Fall of the Berlin Wall
took place. In February 1990, the "Voice of the GDR" changed its name to
Deutschlandsender
. In May of the same year, it was combined with the existing national
Radio DDR 2
to form
Deutschlandsender Kultur
, with headquarters at Funkhaus Nalepastraße.
Broadcasting started on 16 June 1990. As set out in the
German Reunification
Treaty of October 3, East German radio stations were to be closed, DS Kultur's operations therefore lacked a legal basis. Temporarily affiliated with the national
ARD
and
ZDF
public-service broadcasters, it was merged with the former West Berlin
RIAS
station to form
Deutschlandradio Kultur
with effect from 1 January 1994. With the Federal Republic's all-Germany service,
Deutschlandfunk
at
Cologne
, it today forms the
Deutschlandradio
broadcasting organisation, providing two nationwide radio stations for the reunified Germany.
See also
[
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]
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