Radio Stations in Germany

Facilities & Installations

Radio propaganda figured prominently in Nazi Germany. A robust national radio system established in the 1920s was available to the regime when it came to power. By the 1930s the German radio network had many national, local and international radio stations (Deutschlandsender, Reichssender and Weltrundfunksender) operating in longwave, medium and shortwave bands.

A search of imagery provided some interesting coverage of a number of these stations, although none was available for t Germany’s first high-power transmitter at Nauen. The facility was founded in 1906 and by 1913 operated on both longwave and shortwave using a huge umbrella antenna. Later the site was even used for very low frequency (VLF) submarine communications and along with the purpose-built Goliath VLF transmitter at Kalbe, was dismantled by the Soviets after the war.

aerial photo of Königs Wusterhausen Radio Transmitter

aerial photo of Zeesen Radio Transmitter, Germany

aerial photo of Ludwigsfelde Radio Receiver, Germany

aerial photo of Langenberg Radio Transmitter, Germany

aerial photo of Mühlhacker Radio Transmitter, Germany

aerial photo of München Ismaning Radio Transmitter, Germany

aerial photo of München Freimann Radio Transmitter, Germany

aerial photo of Nürnberg Kleinreuth Radio Transmitter

aerial photo of Oebisfelde Radio Transmitter, Germany

aerial photo of Radio Station Near Templin, Germany

The first Deutschlandsender was established south of Berlin at Königs Wusterhausen in 1925. It was joined by two other control buildings (Senders 2 & 3) built in 1920 and 1923. Coverage from March 1945 shows the 243-meter-high central tower (Graphic).

Deutschlandsender II was established at nearby Zeesen in 1927 and in 1933 an international shortwave propaganda transmitter was added. Coverage of Zeesen from 1943 shows both parts of the facility (Graphics). A number of antennas. including three rhombic antennas could be seen. Compared to Königs Wusterhausen, Zeesen had a very large administrative area that included a barracks and motor pool.

A probably related receiving facility with five rhombics (oriented 075, 110, 175, 294, and 300-degrees) was located at Ludwigsfelde, 23 km west of Zeesen (Graphic). This much smaller site may have been used for agent communications.

Other National & Regional Facilities

Many national and regional radio stations were established after 1924 and some underwent improvements. A good example of this was the mediumwave transmitter at Langenberg in west-central Germany. Langenberg began operating in 1927 and by 1935 used three 45m towers. In 1941 a 240m guyed steel tube mast was installed (Graphic). The guyed mast was destroyed in 1945.

The first high-power (60-100 kW) national mediumwave station was set up northwest of Stuttgart at Mühlhacker in 1930 (Graphic). According to available information this facility had a number of antennas, including two 100m towers (removed), a 190m wooden tower (1934) and three 50 m towers. By 1945 only the taller tower remained, although footings for two older antennas and another possible antenna position could still be seen.

Another important regional medium wave station was established at Munich Ismaning, in 1932 (Graphic). The transmitter was relocated from a smaller facility in the Freimann quarter, which is now the headquarters of Bayerischer Rundfunk (Graphic). Ismaning originally had two 156-meter towers, one of which was dismantled and moved to Nürnberg Kleinreuth (Graphic). After the war, Ismaning broadcast for American Forces Network (AFN) Radio Munich. Coverage in 1953 showed a number of antenna masts had been added.

Unusual Facilities

Two radio facilities that do not conform to the standard layout from the 1940s were identified on a search of aerial imagery from 1944. One of these, a probable shortwave transmitter at Oebisfelde, in central Germany, was highly directional, covering an area between 240 and 290 degrees The site’s antennas comprised a vee-shaped, 1100-meter-wide curtain array with 15 self-supporting masts (Graphics). Eleven of the antennas were approximately 55-meters-high and four were about 25 meters-high. The control building and several other structures were set behind the antenna.

Worth a mention is an unidentified facility 1200m east of the transmitter. This site included a fence-secured, multitiered, bunker-like structure and a separate site with a rectangular vented underground tank and two buildings. The two areas were connected by a pipeline. The bunkered structure appeared to have a cylindrical feature at the top, while adjacent structure with two openings resembled an aircraft engine test cell.

A radio facility with another directional array was identified in northern Germany, 10 km southeast of Templin (Graphic). The vee-shaped array was oriented approximately 12 degrees. It had at least 14 circular antenna positions, eight of which were occupied by guyed masts up to 20 meters-high. Some, possibly all, the antenna positions were set in possible circular ground planes defined by radial points. Several structures were nearby and two probably associated buildings were 400 meters southeast. Today a cell tower is next to the buildings.