Radio Berlin International was the
international broadcasterInternational broadcasting is broadcasting that is deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has also used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching...
for 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...
(East Germany). It started in May 1959 to counter
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 West German international broadcaster. Much of its output was news reports and information about the GDR. It offered a state-sponsored view on life in a socialist country. It distributed large quantities of colorful and professionally produced publicity material about life in the GDR to its listeners.
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Radio Berlin International was the
international broadcasterInternational broadcasting is broadcasting that is deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has also used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching...
for 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...
(East Germany). It started in May 1959 to counter
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 West German international broadcaster. Much of its output was news reports and information about the GDR. It offered a state-sponsored view on life in a socialist country. It distributed large quantities of colorful and professionally produced publicity material about life in the GDR to its listeners. The broadcaster ceased operations on 2 October 1990 just before
German 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...
. The final broadcast was noted for the bitterness among some RBI staff about its "takeover", rather than "unification" with Deutsche Welle. The last words were, "Take care and good luck."
Radio Berlin broadcast in many languages, with many of its announcers at the different services — such as English, French and even Danish — coming from their country's respective communist parties. It was one of the major international broadcasters of the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
era.
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