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Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF;
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...
(GDR or
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 German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...
) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...
terrestrial television Terrestrial television or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the signal transmission occurs via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an ante ...
programming approved by the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and broadcast to audiences in East Germany and parts of
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
. DFF served as the main televised
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
outlet of the SED with censored political and non-political programmes featuring bias towards the Marxist–Leninist ideology of the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. DFF was known as Fernsehen der DDR (DDR-FS; "GDR Television" or "Television of heGDR") from 1972 until
German Reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
in 1990, and DFF assets were replaced by the West German network before it was dissolved on 31 December 1991.


History


Foundation

Radio was the dominant medium in the former
Eastern bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, with television being considered low on the priority list when compiling Five-Year Plans during the industrialisation of the 1950s. In Germany, the situation was different as East and West Germany were in competition over available frequencies for broadcasts and for viewers across the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its ...
. The West German Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) had made early plans to begin television broadcasts in its area, which originally included
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 first western test broadcasts were made in 1950. The GDR authorities therefore also made an early start with television and began construction of a television centre in Adlershof on 11 June 1950. The GDR television service began experimental test broadcasts on 20 December 1951. The NWDR announced plans to begin a regular television service from
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
starting with Christmas 1952. This spurred the East German authorities into further action. A relay transmitter in the centre of
East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...
was built in February 1952 and connected to Adlershof on 3 June. On 16 November, the first television sets were made available to the public at 3,500
East German mark The East German mark (german: Mark der DDR ), commonly called the eastern mark (german: Ostmark, links=no ) in West Germany and after reunification), in East Germany only ''Mark'', was the currency of the German Democratic Republic (East Germ ...
s each. Regular public programming, although still described as testing, began on 21 December 1952 –
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
's birthday – with two hours a day of programmes. Continuity announcer Margit Schaumäker welcomed viewers at 20:00 and introduced the station's logo – the
Brandenburg Gate The Brandenburg Gate (german: Brandenburger Tor ) is an 18th-century Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical monument in Berlin, built on the orders of Prussian king Frederick William II of Prussia, Frederick William II after Prussian invasion ...
. Speeches by senior figures in the television organisation followed, then the first edition of the East German national news programme, '' Aktuelle Kamera'', presented by
Herbert Köfer Herbert Köfer (17 February 1921 – 24 July 2021) was a German actor, voice artist, and television presenter. He was the first German TV news presenter for the East German Deutscher Fernsehfunk, and also presented the station's last news befo ...
. The policy of the ruling Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) was to censor the "
mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit informati ...
". As television had a limited audience, it was not classed as a mass medium and therefore ''Aktuelle Kamera'' was, at first, uncensored and even critical. This situation changed after the television service reported accurately on the uprising in East Germany on 17 June 1953. From then on, television newscasts took on a similar character to their radio counterparts, and were sourced from official outlets.


Growth

Once television was established, the transmitter network grew quickly. *1953 Berlin-Grünau *1954 Berlin-Müggelberg (not completed);
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
. *1955
Berlin-Mitte Mitte () (German for "middle" or "center") is a central locality () of Berlin in the eponymous district () of Mitte. Until 2001, it was itself an autonomous district. Mitte proper comprises the historic center of Alt-Berlin centered on the ch ...
,
Brocken The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak in the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak in Northern Germany; it is near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elb ...
, Inselsberg (Brocken and Inselsberg had a large footprint in West Germany), Helpterberg, Marlow,
Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germ ...
*1956 Berlin-
Köpenick Köpenick () is a historic town and locality (''Ortsteil'') in Berlin, situated at the confluence of the rivers Dahme and Spree in the south-east of the German capital. It was formerly known as Copanic and then Cöpenick, only officially adopt ...
Technology and TV studios also extended quickly. In the summer of 1953, ''Studio I'' was opened at Adlershof. In 1955, the first mobile transmission unit and a third broadcasting studio were added to the system. On 2 January 1956, the "official test programme" of the television centre in Berlin ended, and on 3 January the national ''Deutscher Fernsehfunk'' (''German Television Broadcasting'' – DFF) began transmitting. The new television service was deliberately not called "GDR Television", as the intention was to provide an all-German service, as was the case with West Germany's T.V. channels. However, the geography of Germany prevented this – despite placing high-power transmitters in border areas, the GDR could not penetrate the entirety of West Germany. In contrast, West German broadcasts (particularly ARD) easily reached most of East Germany except for the extreme south-east (most notably
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
, the area being in a deep valley, leading to its old East German nickname of "
Tal der Ahnungslosen In culture of East Germany, Tal der Ahnungslosen (''Valley of the Clueless'') was a sarcastic designation for two regions in the southeast and northeast parts of East Germany that generally were not able to receive TV broadcasts from West German ...
", or "Valley of the Clueless") and the extreme north-east (around
Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...
,
Greifswald Greifswald (), officially the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald (german: Universitäts- und Hansestadt Greifswald, Low German: ''Griepswoold'') is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rosto ...
, Neubrandenburg and beyond). ARD came to be known colloquially in the GDR as "Ausser Rügen und Dresden" ("except Rügen and Dresden"), in reference to its coverage area. By the end of 1958, there were over 300,000 television sets in the GDR. News and political programming on DFF was usually scheduled not to clash with similar programming on Western channels (as most viewers would probably have preferred the western programmes). For example, the main news programme, '' Aktuelle Kamera'', was scheduled at 19:30, between ZDF's '' heute'' at 19:00 and ARD's ''
Tagesschau (German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationalit ...
'' at 20:00. However, popular entertainment programming (such as '' Ein Kessel Buntes'') was scheduled to clash with Western news or current affairs programmes in the hope of discouraging viewers from watching the Western programmes. Other popular items (such as films) were scheduled before or after propaganda programmes like ''
Der schwarze Kanal ''Der schwarze Kanal'' (german: The Black Channel) was a series of political propaganda programmes broadcast weekly between 1960 and 1989 by East German television Deutscher Fernsehfunk. Each edition was made up of recorded extracts from recent ...
'' in the hope that viewers tuning in early to catch the film would see the programme. From 7 October 1958, DFF introduced morning programmes – repeats of the previous night's programming for shift workers, broadcast under the title "Wir wiederholen für Spätarbeiter" ("We repeat for late workers"). DFF/DDR-FS produced a number of educational programmes for use in schools, including programmes on chemistry, history, local history and geography, literature, physics, civics, and Russian. Also produced was "ESP": ''Einführung in die sozialistische Produktion'' ("An introduction to Socialist production") and an English-learners course, ''English for You''. Many of these programmes are archived and are available from the DRA in
Babelsberg Babelsberg () is the largest quarter ('' Stadtteil'') of Potsdam, the capital city of the German state of Brandenburg. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Pala ...
.


The Berlin Wall

After the construction of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the gover ...
in August 1961, the GDR began a programme to attempt to prevent its citizens from watching West German broadcasts. The GDR had its diplomatic hands tied: jamming the broadcasts with any degree of effectiveness would also interfere with reception within West Germany (breaching treaties and inviting retaliation). Instead, the
Free German Youth The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...
, ''Freie Deutsche Jugend'' (FDJ), the official youth movement in the GDR, started the campaign ''"Blitz contra Natosender"'' – "Strike against NATO's stations" – in 1961 to encourage young people to remove or damage aerials pointing at the west. The term '' Republikflucht'' (leaving the country without permission) was sometimes used to describe the widespread practice of viewing ''Westfernsehen'' (Western TV). Nevertheless, people continued to watch ARD broadcasts, leading to the development of ''
Der schwarze Kanal ''Der schwarze Kanal'' (german: The Black Channel) was a series of political propaganda programmes broadcast weekly between 1960 and 1989 by East German television Deutscher Fernsehfunk. Each edition was made up of recorded extracts from recent ...
''. By the early 1970s, the party line concerning Western TV had become much more relaxed, and in some cases people got building permits to erect large antenna towers in areas of fringe reception. Strikingly elaborate antennas on building roofs are still a common sight in former East German cities.


Colour and DFF2

Colour television was introduced on 3 October 1969 on the new channel DFF2, which commenced broadcasting the same day, ready for the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the founding of the GDR on 7 October. DFF chose the French SÉCAM colour standard, common in the Eastern Bloc, while West Germany invented and introduced the PAL colour standard. Mutual reception in black and white remained possible as the basic television standard was the same. Colour sets were at first not widely available in the East and many of these were modified to receive PAL as well as SÉCAM. East German manufacturers later made dual standard sets. The introduction of DFF2 marked an increase in the hours of broadcasting overall. On 11 February 1972, the DFF was renamed, dropping the pretense of being an all-German service and becoming ''Fernsehen der DDR'' – ''GDR Television'' or DDR-FS. The previous name survived in episodes of ''The Sandman'', which were repeated quite often. Since DFF2/DDR-F2 broadcast only in the evening for most of its lifespan, special transmissions could easily be made in the afternoon for special events.


1980 Olympic Games

The hosting of the
1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
by Moscow was a source of pride for the Eastern Bloc. However, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 had caused outrage in the west, leading to a boycott of the games by 64 western-aligned nations. DDR-FS therefore wished to present colour pictures of the
1980 Summer Olympic Games The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...
to West Germany, which was part of the boycott, and a programme of experimental transmissions in PAL was instituted. However, little came of these experiments. By 1985 there were 6,078,500 licensed televisions, or 36.5 for every 100 persons.


Gorizont: satellite television

In 1988, the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...
-built Gorizont satellite was launched, providing television programming to much of Europe and northern Africa, and even eastern parts of the Americas. The programmes of all the Eastern European socialist republics, including DDR-F1, were broadcast on the satellite.


Collapse of the GDR

In 1989, the GDR made an attempt to bring its young people closer to the state and distract them from the media of the West. A new young-person's programme, ''Elf 99'' (1199 being the
postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...
of the Adlershof studios) was created as part of this plan. However, the plan was not successful as the GDR itself began to dissolve under economic and popular political pressure brought about by the reforms in Moscow under
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...
. At first, DDR-FS stuck to the party line and barely reported the mass protests in the country that began on 9 September. However, after Erich Honecker was removed from office on Wednesday 18 October 1989 – two days after ''Aktuelle Kamera'' showed pictures of the
rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...
that was held in Leipzig the Monday before, without any censorship at all – and the rule of the SED began to break down, DDR-FS reformed their programmes to remove propaganda and to report news freely. The main propaganda programme, ''
Der schwarze Kanal ''Der schwarze Kanal'' (german: The Black Channel) was a series of political propaganda programmes broadcast weekly between 1960 and 1989 by East German television Deutscher Fernsehfunk. Each edition was made up of recorded extracts from recent ...
'' (The Black Channel)which ran West German TV news items with an explanatory commentary informing viewers of the "real" stories and meanings behind the pictures and generally criticising Western media (particularly ARD and ZDF)ended with its final episode on 30 October 1989. By the time the borders opened on 9 November, the main news programme on DDR2 was being produced without censorship or interference, and so it covered the events in full. In recognition of its reliable coverage, the programme was re-broadcast on the Western channel
3sat In logic and computer science, the Boolean satisfiability problem (sometimes called propositional satisfiability problem and abbreviated SATISFIABILITY, SAT or B-SAT) is the problem of determining if there exists an interpretation that satisfies ...
. DDR-FS joined the 3sat consortium in February 1990. DDR-FS became almost completely separate from the state apparatus, starting a number of new programme strands, including a free and open debate programme on Thursdays, complete with critical phone-in contributions from viewers. At first this had to be handled very carefully, as the
Stasi The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990. The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maintaining state autho ...
– the state secret police – were still operating and had an office in the studios. In February 1990, the Volkskammer passed a media resolution defining DDR-FS as a politically independent public broadcasting system. A law passed by the Volkskammer in September 1990 made this a legal requirement. On 12 March 1990, emphasising the change and reflecting the forthcoming reunification, ''DDR1'' and ''DDR2'' were renamed back to ''DFF1'' and ''DFF2''. The name change would result to DFF now gearing up for this process by airing more commercials and broadcasting US television programs in the same manner as ARD and ZDF, as well as providing regional opt-out news broadcasts to the by now reinstated states in the east.


Reunification

Upon reunification on 3 October 1990, the DFF ceased to be the state broadcaster of the former GDR. Because the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany reserves broadcasting as a matter for the German states ''(Länder)'', the Federal Government was not permitted to continue to run a broadcasting service. Article 36 of the Unification Treaty (Einigungsvertrag) between the two German states (signed on 31 August 1990) required that DFF was to be dissolved by 31 December 1991 and that the former West German television broadcasting system be extended to replace it. On 15 December 1990 at 20:00, the ARD's Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen (now
Das Erste Das Erste (; "The First") is the flagship national television channel of the ARD association of public broadcasting corporations in Germany. ''Das Erste'' is jointly operated by the nine regional public broadcasting corporations that are member ...
) channel took over the frequencies of DFF1. Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen had regional opt-outs during the first part of the evening, but the former GDR did not have ARD broadcasters to fill these spaces. Therefore, DFF continued to provide programmes until 31 December 1991 in these slots: * ''Landesschau'' for Brandenburg (originally ''LSB aktuell'') * ''Nordmagazin'' for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern * ''Tagesbilder'' for Saxony-Anhalt * ''Bei uns in Sachsen'' for Saxony * ''Thüringen Journal'' for Thuringia


Successors

The dissolution of DFF and its replacement by ''Länder''-based ARD broadcasters remained controversial throughout the process. Employees of the DFF were worried about job prospects in the new broadcasters and also had a loyalty to the DFF. Viewers, accustomed to the DFF's programming, were concerned at the loss of favourite shows and the choice most viewers had between West and East channels. The new Länder considered keeping a form of DFF running as the equivalent to the ARD members' "third programme" in other regions. However, political opinion was against centralisation and in favour of the new devolved system brought in from the west.
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...
,
Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making i ...
, and
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...
agreed to pool their broadcasts into
Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR; ''Central German Broadcasting'') is the public broadcaster for the federal states of Thuringia, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. Established in January 1991, its headquarters are in Leipzig, with regional studi ...
(MDR), an ARD member broadcaster based in Leipzig.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
,
Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...
, and Berlin considered pooling their broadcasts into ''Nordostdeutschen Rundfunkanstalt'' – Northeast German Broadcasting (NORA). Another alternative was for Brandenburg and Berlin to consolidate and for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to have its own broadcaster. No agreement could be reached between the three ''Länder''; Mecklenburg therefore joined the existing
Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommer ...
(NDR), while the existing
Sender Freies Berlin Sender Freies Berlin (; abbreviated SFB ; ) was the ARD public radio and television service for West Berlin from 1 June 1954 until 1990 and for Berlin as a whole from German reunification until 30 April 2003. On 1 May 2003 it merged with Ostdeu ...
(SFB) expanded to the whole of the city and a new broadcaster,
Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg (ORB; ''East German Broadcasting Brandenburg''), based in Potsdam, was the public broadcaster for the German federal state of Brandenburg from 12 October 1991 until 30 April 2003. It was a member organization of ...
(ORB) was launched for Brandenburg. DFF finally ended on midnight 31 December 1991. The new organisations began transmissions right after that, on 1 January 1992. On 1 May 2003, SFB and ORB merged to form Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB).


Programmes

*'' Aktuelle Kamera'': The main news programme. *'' Barfuß ins Bett'' (1988–1990) *'' Brummkreisel'': Children's programme. (1982–1991) *''
Der schwarze Kanal ''Der schwarze Kanal'' (german: The Black Channel) was a series of political propaganda programmes broadcast weekly between 1960 and 1989 by East German television Deutscher Fernsehfunk. Each edition was made up of recorded extracts from recent ...
'': Propaganda programme. This programme took West German news reports (which were widely viewed by the people) and had a journalist comment on their "real" meanings, which were, of course, in line with the views of the East German government, hosted by
Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler (28 April 1918 – 20 September 2001) was an East German journalist, communist propagandist and host of the television show ''Der schwarze Kanal'' (german: link=no, The Black Channel) from 21 March 1960 to 30 October ...
. (1960–1989) *'' Ein Kessel Buntes'': Bi-monthly popular entertainment show. (1972–1990) *'' Mach mit, Machs Nach, Machs besser'': Youth programme. *'' Prisma'': Current affairs programme hosted by Axel Kaspar *'' Rumpelkammer'': popular entertainment hosted by Willi Schwabe *''
Das Spielhaus ---- ''Das Spielhaus'' (''The Playhouse'') was a popular puppet theatre television series that played on the second channel of Deutscher Fernsehfunk in the former East Germany. The eight residents of a mobile house with twelve wheels experience ...
'': children's puppet theatre programme. (1989–1990) The Monday evening feature film (usually an entertainment movie from the 1930s–40s) was one of the more popular items on DFF.


''Sandmännchen''

On 8 October 1958, DFF imported ''
Sandmännchen ''Unser Sandmännchen'' ("Our Little Sandman"), ''Das Sandmännchen'' ("The Little Sandman"), ''Der Abendgruß'' ("The Evening-Greeting"), ''Abendgruß'' ("Evening-Greeting"), ''Der Sandmann'' ("The Sandman"), ''Sandmann'' ("Sandman"), ''Sandm ...
'' (the little Sandman) from radio. Both East and West television ran versions of this idea: an animated film that told a children's story and then sent them to bed before the programmes for adults began at 19:00. With several generations of children growing up with the Sandman, it has remained a popular childhood memory. The West version was discontinued by the ARD upon reunification; however, stations in the former GDR continued to play clips from the East's Sandman every night, and RBB still continues the practice as does
KIKA KiKA (contraction of ''Der KinderKAnal von ARD und ZDF''  ARD and ZDF">ARD_(broadcaster).html" ;"title="he Children's Channel of ARD (broadcaster)">ARD and ZDF]) is a German free-to-air television channel based in Erfurt, Germany. It is man ...
. The character plays an important background role in the popular 2003 tragicomedy film ''
Good Bye Lenin! ''Good Bye Lenin!'' is a 2003 German tragicomedy film, directed by Wolfgang Becker. The cast includes Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, and Maria Simon. The story follows a family in East Germany (GDR); the mother (Sass) is dedica ...
'', symbolising the feelings of loss of the main character played by
Daniel Brühl Daniel César Martín Brühl González Domingo (; born 16 June 1978) is a Spanish-German actor and filmmaker. He received his first German Film Award for Best Actor for his roles in '' Das Weisse Rauschen (The White Sound)'' (2001), ''Nichts B ...
.


List of names

*21 December 1952 – 11 February 1972: Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF) **3 October 1969 – 10 February 1972: Deutscher Fernsehfunk I (DFF1) and Deutscher Fernsehfunk II (DFF2) *11 February 1972 – 11 March 1990: Fernsehen der DDR (DDR-FS) **11 February 1972 – April 1976: DDR Fernsehen I (DDR-F1) and DDR Fernsehen II (DDR-F2) **April 1976 – 1980: TV1 DDR (TV1) and TV2 DDR (TV2) **1980 – 1985: DDR Fernsehen 1 (DDR-F1) and DDR Fernsehen 2 (DDR-F2) **1985 – 11 March 1990: Fernsehen der DDR 1. (DDR-F1) and Fernsehen der DDR 2. (DDR-F2) *12 March 1990 – 15 December 1990: Deutscher Fernsehfunk **12 March 1990 – 15 December 1990: Deutscher Fernsehfunk 1 (DFF 1) and Deutscher Fernsehfunk 2 (DFF 2) *15 December 1990 – 31 December 1991: DFF Länderkette


Directors of DFF/DDR-FS

* 1950–1952 Hans Mahle (Director-general) * 1952–1953 Hermann Zilles (Director) * 1954–1989 Heinz Adameck (Director) * 1989–1990
Hans Bentzien Hans Bentzien (1927–2015) was a German writer and politician who served as the culture minister of East Germany from 1961 to 1966. Being a member of the ruling party Socialist Unity Party (SED), he held several political and public posts in Ea ...
(Director-general) * 1990–1991 Michael Albrecht (Director) *1991-1991 Evan Wheeler (Director)


Technical information


Broadcast system

When television broadcasting started, the GDR chose to use the Western European B/G transmission system rather than the Eastern European D/K system, in order to keep transmissions compatible with West Germany. Of course, this made East German television incompatible with the other Eastern Bloc countries, although the D/K system was used prior to 1957.


Irregular channels

Although DFF decided to revert to Western Europe's standard, the first broadcasts used a set of seven VHF channels some of which were not in line with any other system at the time. Eventually (around 1960), the channels standard to Western Europe were adopted. In what may have been attempt to frustrate reception (in some areas) of ARD some early TV sets manufactured in the GDR only tuned the seven channels used by DFF (rather than the full set of 11 VHF channels). Later (following the launch of the second network) UHF tuners were added but early versions only covered the lower part of the band.


Colour

When colour television was introduced, the SÉCAM system was chosen rather than the West German PAL. The incompatibilities between the two colour systems are minor, allowing for pictures to be watched in monochrome on non-compatible sets. Most East German television receivers were monochrome and colour sets usually had after-market PAL modules fitted to allow colour reception of West German programmes; the official sale of dual standard sets in East Germany started in December 1977. The same applied in West Germany. There were experimental PAL broadcasts most notably during the 1980 Moscow Olympics (which got little coverage on West German television due to the
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict so ...
). With reunification, it was decided to switch to the PAL colour system. The system was changed between the end of DFF programmes on 14 December 1990 and the opening of ARD programmes on 15 December. The transmission authorities made the assumption that most East Germans had either dual standard or monochrome sets; those who did not could purchase decoders.


Technical innovations

DDR-FS was the first television broadcaster in Germany to introduce the
Betacam Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. Al ...
magnetic recording system. Betacam was later adopted by all German broadcasters and is still in use by ARD and ZDF. In 1983, DDR-FS also pioneered the use of
Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...
equipment for live reporting.


Finance

Broadcasting in the GDR was financed by a compulsory licence fee. An annual fee of 10.50 Ostmarks was charged for a joint television and radio licence. A separate radio or car radio licence cost between 0.50 and 2 Ostmarks. (At one time, there was a slightly lower rate for viewers not equipped with the UHF aerials necessary to receive the second channel, however, this arrangement was seen as impractical and abandoned) In addition, broadcasting was heavily subsidised by the state. For example, in 1982, the GDR realized revenues of 115.4 million Ostmarks through licence fees, while the amount budgeted in 1983 for the television service alone was 222 million Ostmarks.


Advertising

Advertising – in the form of "commercial" magazine programmes – had appeared on GDR television from 1959. However, in a command economy, there was little or no competition between brands, so advertising was limited to informing viewers what products were available. By 1975, the advertising magazines gave up the pretence of being western-style commercial programmes and converted to being "shoppers guides", listing availability and prices of goods. With the end of the Communist system, spot advertising was introduced to DFF in order to better cover the system's cost. The French advertising agency ''Information et Publicité'' was engaged to produce and sell commercials and airtime on the DFF networks.


Archives

The archives of the GDR radio and television stations are administered by ''
German Broadcasting Archive The German Broadcasting Archive (''Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv''; DRA) is a non-profit foundation supported by the ARD. It was founded in 1952 as "German sound archive". The DRA covers essential aspects of the development of German broadcasting. Today ...
'' (Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv – DRA) at
Babelsberg Babelsberg () is the largest quarter ('' Stadtteil'') of Potsdam, the capital city of the German state of Brandenburg. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Pala ...
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 of ...
.


See also

*
Culture of East Germany The culture of East Germany varied throughout the years due to the political and historical events that took place in the 20th century, especially as a result of Nazism and Communism. A reflection on the history of arts and culture in East Ger ...


References


Sources

The following are the sources for that article and are, therefore, in German. * Thomas Beutelschmidt: ''"Alles zum Wohle des Volkes?!?" Die DDR als Bildschirm-Wirklichkeit vor und nach 1989'', 1999
PDF file
* Lars Brücher: Das Westfernsehen und der revolutionäre Umbruch in der DDR im Herbst 1989, Magisterarbeit, 2000

* Peter Hoff: Kalter Krieg auf deutschen Bildschirmen – Der Ätherkrieg und die Pläne zum Aufbau eines zweiten Fernsehprogramms der DDR, In: Kulturation, Ausgabe 2, 2003.

* Hans Müncheberg: Ein Bayer bläst die Lichtlein aus – Ost-Fernsehen im Wendefieber und Einheitssog, In: Freitag 46/2004, Berlin, 2004

* Hans Müncheberg: ''Blaues Wunder aus Adlershof. Der Deutsche Fernsehfunk – Erlebtes und Gesammeltes.'' Berlin: Das Neue Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 2000. * Christina Oberst-Hundt: ''Vom Aufbruch zur Abwicklung – Der 3. Oktober 1990 war für den Rundfunk der DDR die Beendigung eines Anfang'', In: M – Menschen Machen Medien, 2000

* Markus Rotenburg: ''Was blieb vom Deutschen Fernsehfunk? Fernsehen und Hörfunk der DDR 15 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall.'' Brilon, Sauerland Welle, gesendet am 9. und 16. November 2004

* Sabine Salhoff (Bearb.): ''Das Schriftgut des DDR-Fernsehens. Eine Bestandsübersicht.'' Potsdam-Babelsberg: DRA, 2001. * Erich Selbmann: ''DFF Adlershof. Wege übers Fernsehland''. Berlin: Edition Ost, 1998. (Selbmann was from 1966 to 1978 the producer of ''Aktuelle Kamera''.) –

* Eine Darstellung der Entwicklung des Fernsehens aus dem "anderen" Deutschland – der DD


Additional sources

These sources are in English and were used to clarify or extend the translation. * Hancock, Dafyd
Fade to black
Intertel from Transdiffusion, 2001; accessed 19 February 2006. * , Dir

Intertel from Transdiffusion, 2003; accessed 19 February 2006. * Paulu, Burton ''Broadcasting on the European Continent'' Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press 1967


External links


Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv

Research on the History of Television Programs of the GDR
* http://home.arcor.de/madeingdr/gdrsite/tv/index2_(2).htm Details of TV programmes * http://www.scheida.at/scheida/Televisionen_DDR.htm Article about reception/Technical issues {{Coord, 52.432, N, 13.540, E, display=title, region:DE_source:dewiki, format=dms Television networks in Germany Television in East Germany Defunct German television channels Television channels and stations established in 1952 Television channels and stations disestablished in 1991 1952 in German television 1991 in German television 1952 establishments in East Germany 1991 disestablishments in Germany