Deutschlandfunk (DLF) is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
national news and current affairs radio station.
Broadcasting in the Federal Republic of Germany is reserved under the
Basic LawThe Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the Allies, came into effect on 23 May 1949, as the constitution of West Germany....
(constitution) to the
statesGermany is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen states, known in German as . Since is also the German word for "country", the term is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law.The citizens of the states form the nation...
. This means that all
public broadcastingPublic broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public. Public broadcasters may receive their funding from individuals through voluntary donations, a specific tax such as a television licence fee, or as direct...
is regionalised. National broadcasts must be aired through the national consortium of public broadcasters (
ARDArd, ARD, Ards or ARDS may refer to:Ard:*Ard or scratch-plough, a type of plough consisting of a simple spike dragged through the soil*Ard, a son of Benjamin in the Bible: see List of minor Biblical figures: ArdARD:...
) or authorized by a treaty negotiated between the states.
In the 1950s, the
German Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
(GDR) began broadcasting its
DeutschlandsenderDeutschlandsender is one of the longest-established radio station names in German. It was used between 1926 and the end of 1993 to denote a number of powerful stations designed to achieve all-Germany coverage .-1926—1945:The first Deutschlandsender, broadcasting from a powerful transmitter...
station on
longwaveThe longwave radio band is a range of frequencies used for AM broadcasting, which extends from 148.5 to 283.5 kHz. It falls within the low-frequency part of the radio spectrum ....
.
Deutschlandfunk (DLF) is a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
national news and current affairs radio station.
History
Broadcasting in the Federal Republic of Germany is reserved under the
Basic LawThe Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the Allies, came into effect on 23 May 1949, as the constitution of West Germany....
(constitution) to the
statesGermany is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen states, known in German as . Since is also the German word for "country", the term is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law.The citizens of the states form the nation...
. This means that all
public broadcastingPublic broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public. Public broadcasters may receive their funding from individuals through voluntary donations, a specific tax such as a television licence fee, or as direct...
is regionalised. National broadcasts must be aired through the national consortium of public broadcasters (
ARDArd, ARD, Ards or ARDS may refer to:Ard:*Ard or scratch-plough, a type of plough consisting of a simple spike dragged through the soil*Ard, a son of Benjamin in the Bible: see List of minor Biblical figures: ArdARD:...
) or authorized by a treaty negotiated between the states.
In the 1950s, the
German Democratic RepublicThe German Democratic Republic was a Communist state that originated from the Soviet Zone of occupied Germany and the Soviet sector of occupied Berlin...
(GDR) began broadcasting its
DeutschlandsenderDeutschlandsender is one of the longest-established radio station names in German. It was used between 1926 and the end of 1993 to denote a number of powerful stations designed to achieve all-Germany coverage .-1926—1945:The first Deutschlandsender, broadcasting from a powerful transmitter...
station on
longwaveThe longwave radio band is a range of frequencies used for AM broadcasting, which extends from 148.5 to 283.5 kHz. It falls within the low-frequency part of the radio spectrum ....
. In response to this, the then-
Nordwestdeutscher RundfunkNordwestdeutscher Rundfunk was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Länder of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 until 31 December 1955. Until 1954, it was also responsible for broadcasting in West Berlin...
applied for a licence to operate a similar longwave service on behalf of the
ARDArd, ARD, Ards or ARDS may refer to:Ard:*Ard or scratch-plough, a type of plough consisting of a simple spike dragged through the soil*Ard, a son of Benjamin in the Bible: see List of minor Biblical figures: ArdARD:...
. This was granted in 1956 and operated as Deutscher Langwellensender ("German Longwave Station").
In 1960, the federal government proved in court that, whilst broadcasting
to Germany was a responsibility of the states, broadcasting
from Germany could be seen as foreign affairs and thus reserved to the federal government. On 29 November 1960, the federal government created Deutschlandfunk as a national broadcasting corporation based in
CologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants...
.
When the
Norddeutscher RundfunkNorddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
's licence to broadcasting on longwave expired, the federal government acquired the frequencies for Deutschlandfunk and began transmissions on 1 January 1962, joining the ARD on 7 June.
Deutschlandfunk broadcast primarily in German, targeting the GDR and
German-speakingGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
minorities in Eastern Europe. However, its European Department was responsible for foreign-language transmissions to neighbouring countries in Europe, primarily from the
Ehndorf transmitterEhndorf transmitter is a Deutsche Telekom mediumwave facility broadcasting Deutschlandfunk on 1269 kHz . It is at Ehndorf, a village west of Neumünster in Schleswig-Holstein, Federal Republic of Germany. It went in service in November 1967 at a power of 600kW , reduced to 300 kW in 1995...
. From 7 June 1963 it began foreign language transmissions in
CzechCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. Czech is similar to and mutually intelligible with Slovak and, to a lesser extent, to Polish and Sorbian. - Official status :Czech is widely...
,
CroatianCroatian is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Croatian minorities in some neighbouring countries, in the Italian region of Molise, and parts of the Croatian diaspora....
,
PolishPolish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
and
SerbianSerbian is a South Slavic language, spoken chiefly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and in the Serbian diaspora...
. Later it focused on the Federal Republic's free neighbours in northern Europe, including English programming for the UK and the
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
. Inter-continental broadcasts were the responsibility of
Deutsche WelleDeutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio in 29 languages . It has a satellite television service, , that is available in four languages, and there is also an online news site...
.
Post-reunification
After
reunificationGerman reunification is the process in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and Berlin was united into a single city-state. The start of this process is commonly referred to by former citizens of the GDR as die Wende...
, negotiations between the states and the Federal Government led to a reorganization of Germany's national and international public broadcasters in which DLF lost its independence and ARD membership.
From 1 July 1993, DLF's European Department was transferred to
Deutsche WelleDeutsche Welle or DW, is Germany's international broadcaster. It broadcasts news and information on shortwave, Internet and satellite radio in 29 languages . It has a satellite television service, , that is available in four languages, and there is also an online news site...
. The English programmes replaced by DLF were phased out over several years in favour of DW's intercontinental productions.
The remnant was merged into
DeutschlandradioDeutschlandradio is a national German public radio broadcaster. It operates two national networks, Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandradio Kultur....
("Germany Radio"), a public broadcasting institution created to oversee national services, from 1st January 1994. DLF was given a new remit as a news and current affairs service, while retaining its staff and studio facilities in Cologne. The service remains free of advertising. In the years immediately after the merger it was sometimes referred to as
DeutschlandRadio Köln ("Germany Radio Cologne").
Programming
Deutschlandfunk's schedules are largely made up of news and documentaries, covering politics, economics and science. There is also some very limited music output.
News
Deutschlandfunk broadcasts a news bulletin on the hour and the half hour.
On weekdays, a morning news magazine is broadcast between 0500 and 0900 with frequent news bulletins. There are further news magazines broadcast between 1200 and 1800.
The main evening bulletin is at 2300.
Culture
On Sundays, a discussion programme is broadcast between 0930 and 1000, covering subjects as varied as Islam in Germany, neurophysiology and the history of art. These discussions are archived on the internet
http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/kultursonntag/?archiv=1&page=1.
International cooperation
Deutschlandfunk provides programming for the German-language Belgian radio station BRF-DLF in
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
. It also cooperates with the main
Belgischer RundfunkBelgischer Rundfunk is the public-service broadcasting organization serving the German-speaking Community of Belgium...
(BRF) domestic radio service for the
East CantonsThe German-speaking Community of Belgium is one of the three federal communities in Belgium. It is the main part of the so-called East Cantons of Belgium. It has an area of 854 km², and a population of over 73,000, of which almost 100% are German speaking . This is about 0.73% of Belgium's entire...
of Walonia, BRF1.
Transmitters
Until November 23, 1978 (until the Waveplan of Geneva became valid), the program of Deutschlandfunk was transmitted on longwave from
Sender DonebachThe Sender Donebach is a 500 kilowatt longwave transmitter working on 153 kHz, which transmits the program of German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk....
and on mediumwave from
Bad DürrheimBad Dürrheim transmitter was a facility for medium wave and short wave broadcasting at 48°00'12" N and 8°31'28" E at Bad Dürrheim-Ankenbuck. It was built by the Südwestfunk in 1951 and used for mediumwave and shortwave broadcasting. As transmission antenna for mediumwave, a 120 metre tall guyed...
,
CremlingenThe Cremlingen transmitter is a large mediumwave transmission facility established in 1962 for transmitting the program of Deutschlandfunk on 756 kHz near Cremlingen-Abbenrode....
,
RavensburgRavensburg-Horgenzell transmitter is a mediumwave broadcasting facility of Deutsche Telekom used for transmitting the program of Deutschlandfunk on the area of community Horgenzell northwest of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg. It was inaugurated on August 23, 1951 and used until 1959 for...
,
EhndorfEhndorf transmitter is a Deutsche Telekom mediumwave facility broadcasting Deutschlandfunk on 1269 kHz . It is at Ehndorf, a village west of Neumünster in Schleswig-Holstein, Federal Republic of Germany. It went in service in November 1967 at a power of 600kW , reduced to 300 kW in 1995...
and
MainflingenThe Mediumwave transmitter Mainflingen is a mediumwave transmission facility south of the A3 motorway near Mainflingen, Hesse, Germany. Mainflingen was the first mediumwave transmitter for the radio station Deutschlandfunk. It went into service in 1962 with a transmission power of 50 kW, on a...
.
With the validation of waveplan of Geneva
Bad DürrheimBad Dürrheim transmitter was a facility for medium wave and short wave broadcasting at 48°00'12" N and 8°31'28" E at Bad Dürrheim-Ankenbuck. It was built by the Südwestfunk in 1951 and used for mediumwave and shortwave broadcasting. As transmission antenna for mediumwave, a 120 metre tall guyed...
was shut down. In 1979 new transmitters went into service: in
ErchingThe Erching transmitter was a longwave broadcasting facility of the Voice of America, established in 1953 near Erching, Bavaria, Germany. The transmitter used a 256 metre high guyed-steel-framework mast aerial, at the time of its inauguration the most powerful radio station in the world with a...
for daytime long-wave transmission and in 1980/81 in
NordkirchenThe Nordkirchen transmitter is a medium-wave broadcasting facility of Deutsche Telekom near Nordkirchen in Northrhine-Westphalia. It was built in 1979 and 1980 after the 549 kHz frequency was again made available in that location....
and Thurnau for medium-wave transmission.
On January 1, 1989, the
Aholming transmitterAholming transmitter is a facility for broadcasting the program of Deutschlandfunk on 207 kHz with a power of 500 kW at day and 250 kW at night between Aholming and Ottmaring in Bavaria....
replaced
ErchingThe Erching transmitter was a longwave broadcasting facility of the Voice of America, established in 1953 near Erching, Bavaria, Germany. The transmitter used a 256 metre high guyed-steel-framework mast aerial, at the time of its inauguration the most powerful radio station in the world with a...
and allowed 24 hour service on the second long-wave frequency. On October 1, 1994,
Heusweiler transmitterThe Heusweiler transmitter is a facility for medium wave broadcasting near Heusweiler, Germany, which originally went into service on 23 December 1935. On June 19th, 1946 transmitter Heusweiler went in service again.- Original transmitter :...
, which was used until this date for transmitting the program of "Europawelle Saar", started with the transmission of Deutschlandfunk. On December 31, 1994,
transmitter MainflingenThe Mediumwave transmitter Mainflingen is a mediumwave transmission facility south of the A3 motorway near Mainflingen, Hesse, Germany. Mainflingen was the first mediumwave transmitter for the radio station Deutschlandfunk. It went into service in 1962 with a transmission power of 50 kW, on a...
was shut down.
Mediumwave
- Nordkirchen
The Nordkirchen transmitter is a medium-wave broadcasting facility of Deutsche Telekom near Nordkirchen in Northrhine-Westphalia. It was built in 1979 and 1980 after the 549 kHz frequency was again made available in that location....
(549 kHz)
- Thurnau (549 kHz)
- Cremlingen
The Cremlingen transmitter is a large mediumwave transmission facility established in 1962 for transmitting the program of Deutschlandfunk on 756 kHz near Cremlingen-Abbenrode....
(756 kHz)
- Ravensburg
Ravensburg-Horgenzell transmitter is a mediumwave broadcasting facility of Deutsche Telekom used for transmitting the program of Deutschlandfunk on the area of community Horgenzell northwest of Ravensburg in Baden-Württemberg. It was inaugurated on August 23, 1951 and used until 1959 for...
(756 kHz)
- Ehndorf
Ehndorf transmitter is a Deutsche Telekom mediumwave facility broadcasting Deutschlandfunk on 1269 kHz . It is at Ehndorf, a village west of Neumünster in Schleswig-Holstein, Federal Republic of Germany. It went in service in November 1967 at a power of 600kW , reduced to 300 kW in 1995...
(1269 kHz)
- Heusweiler
The Heusweiler transmitter is a facility for medium wave broadcasting near Heusweiler, Germany, which originally went into service on 23 December 1935. On June 19th, 1946 transmitter Heusweiler went in service again.- Original transmitter :...
(1422 kHz)
The medium-wave transmitters carry the Deutschlandfunk signal to most of Europe during the hours of darkness. The long-wave transmission can also be heard in much of Europe during day and night, including parts of
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
. With the exception of Heusweiler, the transmitters are owned by
Deutsche TelekomDeutsche Telekom AG is a telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is the largest telecommunications company in Europe....
AG.
FM
FM transmitters carry the Deutschlandfunk signal throughout Germany, but there are leaks in the coverage pattern, especially — but not only — in the southern states of
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
and
Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine—but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River...
. Germany's largest cities are all covered via FM. As AM radio reception is practically out of use in Germany, FM coverage is vital for Deutschlandfunk. As the state authorities have the power to allocate frequencies to broadcasters, they prefer "their" regional public and commercial broadcasters which are controlled and regulated by them.
Webcast
High quality webcast of the Deutschlandfunk programme is available in
MP3MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on...
,
Windows MediaWindows Media is a multimedia framework for media creation and distribution for Microsoft Windows. It consists of a software development kit with several application programming interfaces and a number of prebuilt technologies, and is the replacement of NetShow technologies.The Windows Media SDK is...
, and Ogg Vorbis formats.
External links
dradio official website Deutschlandfunk website ARD Radio