The Berliner Rundfunk (BERU) was a radio station set in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. It had a political focus and discussed events in East Berlin. Today it is a commercial radio station broadcast with the name "Berliner Rundfunk 91.4".

History

The Berliner Rundfunk was established in 1945 by the

Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (russian: Советская военная администрация в Германии, СВАГ; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; german: Sowjetische Militäradministrat ...

. It initially broadcast from the

Haus des Rundfunks The Haus des Rundfunks ("Broadcasting House"), located in the Westend district of Berlin, the capital city of Germany, is the world's oldest self-contained broadcasting centre. Designed by Hans Poelzig in 1929 after he won an architectural compet ...

building of the former

Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft The Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG; ''Reich Broadcasting Corporation'') was a national network of German regional public radio and television broadcasting companies active from 1925 until 1945. RRG's broadcasts were receivable in all parts o ...

(''

Reich ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (lit ...

''-Radio Association) GmbH on Masurenallee in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

. It is notable that this broadcaster was located in the British sector of what was to become

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

. The station was merged with the regional broadcasters in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

and

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgian Low German: ''Swerin''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the capital and second-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern as well as of the region of Mecklenburg, after Rostock. It ...

as well as the broadcast studio in

Rostock Rostock (), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (german: link=no, Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock), is the largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the state, ...

In the course of the centralization of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1952, in which among other things five ''Länder'' were eliminated, the status of East German radio changed. In the meantime, the new radio headquarters of the

Rundfunk der DDR Rundfunk der DDR (, 'GDR Broadcasting'; from about 1948 to 1972 Deutscher Demokratischer Rundfunk, 'German Democratic Broadcasting') was the collective designation for radio broadcasting organized by the State Broadcasting Committee in the Germa ...

was established on Nalepastraße in

Oberschöneweide Oberschöneweide (, literally ''Upper Schöneweide'') is a German locality (''Ortsteil'') within the Berlin borough (''Bezirk'') of Treptow-Köpenick. It is, with Niederschöneweide (''Lower Schöneweide''), part of the geographic area of Schön ...

, East Berlin. After 1952, all radio programs in the GDR emanated from there. The Berliner Rundfunk was changed to the program ''Berlin I'' with a political focus and allotted the transmitters in Schwerin and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

. The program also took over the shortwave transmission of the previous

Deutschlandsender Deutschlandsender (, ''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-Ger ...

. In August 1953 the radio system was reorganized. This reform created the

, the Berliner Rundfunk, and the Radio DDR. From June 1954 until September 1955 the program of the Berliner Rundfunk was temporarily called "Berlin 1. Programm" in contrast to the program of Radio DDR which was called "Berlin 2. Programm." The Berliner Rundfunk transmitted its program set over

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...

(657, 693, 999, 1170, 1431 and 1575 kHz) and VHF. In connection with the unification of the two German states, the Berliner Rundfunk ceased its transmission in February 1990. In Berlin an identically named private radio program broadcast on the VHF frequency 91.4 MHz. The other open frequencies of the Berliner Rundfunk were taken over by regional programs of the newly created ''Länder''.

References

* Petra Galle: ''RIAS Berlin und Berliner Rundfunk 1945-1949''. Münster .a. Lit Verlag, 2003. {{Authority control Eastern Bloc mass media Radio in Germany Defunct radio stations in East Germany Mass media in Berlin Radio stations established in 1945 Radio stations disestablished in 1991 1945 establishments in Germany 1991 disestablishments in Germany

History

See also

References