Deutscher Fernsehfunk
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 State media or government media are media outlets that are under financial and/or editorial control of the state or government, directly or indirectly. There are different types of state and government media. State-controlled or state-run media a ...
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 its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
) 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 The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
(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 O ...
. DFF served as the main televised propaganda outlet of the SED with
censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
political and non-political programmes featuring bias towards the Marxist–Leninist ideology of the Eastern Bloc. DFF was known as Fernsehen der DDR (DDR-FS; "GDR Television" or "Television of heGDR") from 1972 until German Reunification 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, 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 West German
Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Länder of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 to ...
(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 Adlershof (, literally "Eagle's Court") is a locality (') in the borough (') Treptow-Köpenick of Berlin, Germany. Adlershof is home to the new City of Science, Technology and Media ( WISTA), located on the southwestern edge of the locality. ...
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 (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
starting with Christmas 1952. This spurred the East German authorities into further action. A relay transmitter in the centre of East Berlin 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 political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
'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. Speeches by senior figures in the television organisation followed, then the first edition of the East German national news programme, ''
Aktuelle Kamera Aktuelle Kamera (''"Current Camera")'' was the flagship television newscast of Deutscher Fernsehfunk, the state broadcaster of the German Democratic Republic (known as ''Fernsehen der DDR'' from 11 February 1972 to 11 March 1990). On air from 21 ...
'', 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 The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
(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 El ...
, 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 Germany ...
*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", 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 Neubrandenburg (lit. ''New Brandenburg'', ) is a city in the southeast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is located on the shore of a lake called Tollensesee and forms the urban centre of the Mecklenburg Lakeland. The city is famous for its ...
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 Aktuelle Kamera (''"Current Camera")'' was the flagship television newscast of Deutscher Fernsehfunk, the state broadcaster of the German Democratic Republic (known as ''Fernsehen der DDR'' from 11 February 1972 to 11 March 1990). On air from 21 ...
'', was scheduled at 19:30, between
ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
's ''
heute ''heute'' (; German for ''today'') is a television news program on the German channel ZDF. The main program is broadcast at 19:00, and includes news, with an emphasis on political news from Germany, Europe and the world, plus 'mixed' news from c ...
'' at 19:00 and ARD's '' Tagesschau'' at 20:00. However, popular entertainment programming (such as ''
Ein Kessel Buntes ''Ein Kessel Buntes'' ("A Kettle of Colour") was a television variety show in the former East Germany. It broadcast from 1972 to 1992. A total of 113 shows were made, six per yeaIt was sent at first from the Friedrichstadtpalast theatre, and later ...
'') 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 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, ''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 ''Republikflucht'' (German for "desertion from the republic") was the colloquial term in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) for illegal emigration to West Germany, West Berlin, and non-Warsaw Pact countries; the official term was ' ...
'' (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 Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
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 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 nationa ...
-built
Gorizont Gorizont (russian: Горизонт, ''Horizon''), GRAU index 11F662, is a series of 35 Russian, previously Soviet, geosynchronous communications satellites launched between 1978 and 2000. The programme was started in order to develop a satelli ...
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 a ...
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 Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...
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 dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
. 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 Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the posts ...
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 Sport ...
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. 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 Intelligence agency, 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 maint ...
– the state secret police – were still operating and had an office in the studios. In February 1990, the
Volkskammer __NOTOC__ The Volkskammer (, ''People's Chamber'') was the unicameral legislature of the German Democratic Republic (colloquially known as East Germany). The Volkskammer was initially the lower house of a bicameral legislature. The upper house ...
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 The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Grundgesetz für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came in ...
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) 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: ''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 landlocked state of ...
,
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 it the ...
, 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 larg ...
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 studio ...
(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 states of Germany, 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 ar ...
, 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 broadcasting, 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, M ...
(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 (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 Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (; "Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting"; abbreviated: RBB , stylized as rbb) is an institution under public law (national broadcaster) for the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg, based in Berlin and Potsdam. RBB ...
(RBB).


Programmes

*''
Aktuelle Kamera Aktuelle Kamera (''"Current Camera")'' was the flagship television newscast of Deutscher Fernsehfunk, the state broadcaster of the German Democratic Republic (known as ''Fernsehen der DDR'' from 11 February 1972 to 11 March 1990). On air from 21 ...
'': 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 Octobe ...
. (1960–1989) *''
Ein Kessel Buntes ''Ein Kessel Buntes'' ("A Kettle of Colour") was a television variety show in the former East Germany. It broadcast from 1972 to 1992. A total of 113 shows were made, six per yeaIt was sent at first from the Friedrichstadtpalast theatre, and later ...
'': 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 Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violinis ...
*'' Das Spielhaus'': 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 Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragedy, tragic and comedy, comic forms. Most often seen in drama, dramatic literature, the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the ov ...
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 ...
.


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 (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 Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
. 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 som ...
). 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. All ...
magnetic recording system. Betacam was later adopted by all German broadcasters and is still in use by ARD and
ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...
. In 1983, DDR-FS also pioneered the use of
Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for Movie camera, 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 ...
equipment for live reporting.


Finance

Broadcasting in the GDR was financed by a compulsory
licence fee A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence f ...
. 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 A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, part ...
, 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 B ...
.


See also

* Culture of East Germany


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