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Britz

Transmitter-Antenna

Is a broadcasting facility from 1946 for medium wave, shortwave and FM. It was the most important transmitter of RIAS ”Deutsch: Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor; English: Broadcasting in the American Sector”. Was a radio and television station in the American Sector of Berlin during the Cold War,  at the present time is the Deutschland Radio Berlin.

The Antenna was build in Britz in 1946 by the American military authorities administration. Several temporary structures were replace in 1948 with the current high steel masts. These steel masts were later extended to heights until to 160m. Short-wave transmissions were made from Britz starting in 1949. In 1978 a medium-wave transmission aerial was added to allow better reception across the whole of the GDR’s territory, especially at night.

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Berlin

Britz Transmitter-Antenna

The Berlin-Britz transmitter initially used a wire supported between two 30m tall wooden poles. This aerial was replaced in 1947 by a 60m  insulated steel framework mast. This mast was replaced in turn in 1948 by two guyed insulated steel framework masts, each with a height of 100m and which still exist today. These masts were extended in next years so that today they are 160m  and 144 m  tall and carry FM radio broadcasting antennas. Since 1949 the Berlin-Britz transmitter has also been a shortwave transmission facility. A dipole aerial aligned in east-west direction was installed. A second shortwave broadcasting aerial in the form of a dipole with whole length was built in 1983.

A cross dipole aerial for the medium wave frequency 990 kHz was built in 1978 to offer better coverage to the former East Germany for RIAS first channel. This aerial for circular polarisation radiated vertically in the ionosphere and permitted good reception of RIAS 1 in the entire former East Germany. This aerial was mounted on five  masts each with a height of  30m and was shutdown at the end of 1995. The station’s importance was magnified during the 1948 Berlin blockade, when it carried the message of Allied determination to resist Soviet intimidation. After the Berlin blockade, RIAS evolved into a substitute home service for East Germans, as it broadcast news, commentary, and cultural programs that were unavailable in the controlled media of the German Democratic Republic.

Eventually RIAS was jointly funded and managed by the United States and West Germany. The station was staff almost entirely with Germans, who worked under a small American management team. It maintained a large research component during the Cold War, and interviewed travellers from East Germany and compiled material from the East German Communist media, and broadcast programs for specific groups in East Germany, such as youths, women, farmers, even border guards. RIAS had a huge audience in East Germany and was the most popular foreign radio service. The audience began to shrink only when West German television became widely available to the East German audience.

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