The Sender Bielstein (Transmitter Bielstein) is an FM- and TV-broadcasting facility on the 393-metre-high Bielstein mountain in the Forest of
Teutoburg,
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, Germany.
Bielstein transmitter, which is the property of
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
(; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...
and used for transmitting its programmes was established in 1951. It used until 1954 a 60-metre-tall mast. This mast was replaced in 1954 by a 102-metre-tall antenna tower. However this mast was not able to supply the whole area with FM and TV-programmes and so a taller antenna mast was soon planned. Finally in 1968 construction work started for a 298-metre-tall guyed steel tube mast. This mast, which was completed in 1970 enabled a satisfactory supply of FM- and TV-programmes in the area.
On January 15, 1985, at 6.26 MST as result of too much ice load and great wind-induced stress, one of the upper guys of the mast was torn off. As result the mast bent and cracked 160 metres above ground. Afterwards the rest of the mast collapsed as the falling upper parts destroyed the guys holding its lower parts.
Already on the afternoon of that day as replacement for the first FM-transmitter which used the mast went on air again, by using a communication tower of
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...
as the transmission site. Three days later, TV broadcasting was also restored. On Bielstein mountain, a temporary 85-metre-tall auxiliary transmission mast for transmitting the TV and FM-programmes was erected. Of course, reception of the signals radiated from this auxiliary mast was much worse than from the former 298 metre mast and so construction work for a new 302-metre-tall guyed lattice steel mast started, which was completed in August 1986.
In April 2006 the mast got a new antenna for DVB-T broadcasting, which reduced its height to 290 metres.
Transmitted FM-frequencies
External links
*
* http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b46677
* https://web.archive.org/web/20070730142744/http://www.detmold-hiddesen.de/bielstein.htm
See also
*
List of masts
The tallest structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa skyscraper at . Listed are guyed masts (such as telecommunication masts), self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the Willis Tower), oil platforms, electricity t ...
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Radio masts and towers in Germany
1951 establishments in West Germany
Towers completed in 1951
Buildings and structures in Lippe