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

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. The station formerly had a political focus and discussed events in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

. Nowadays, it is a commercial radio station with a classic hits music format 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 (; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; , SMAD) was the Soviet military government, headquartered in Berlin- Karlshorst, that directly ruled the Soviet occupation zone in German ...

. It initially broadcast from the Haus des Rundfunks 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 ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...

''-Radio Association) GmbH on Masurenallee in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

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

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

. The station was merged with the regional broadcasters in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

and

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

as well as the broadcast studio in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

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 East ...

was established on Nalepastraße in Oberschöneweide, 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 (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

. 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 a nat ...

. 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 a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting, AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. Duri ...

(657, 693, 999, 1170, 1431 and 1575

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

) 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 Radio stations in Berlin Radio stations established in 1945 Radio stations disestablished in 1991 1945 establishments in Germany 1991 disestablishments in Germany

History

See also

References