The Longwave transmitter Europe 1 is the oldest privately owned

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, situated between and Berus/Saar, Germany. It transmitted on 183

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that on ...

with a power of 2,000

kilowatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

s a French speaking programme,

Europe 1 Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pro ...

toward France. It was the highest power radio broadcasting transmitter in Germany. Longwave transmissions stopped on 31 December 2019.

Technical details

The transmitter used directional aerials of four guyed, insulated

radio masts Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

which are 270, 276, 280, and 282 metres high. Furthermore, there is a backup aerial, which consists of two guyed insulated radio masts with a height of 234 metres. Due to the strong south-west directional characteristic of the antenna, reception to the northeast of the transmitter (i.e. in the largest part of Germany) is poor or distorted. The building, in which the transmitters are situated, has a length of 82 metres, a width of 43 metres, and a height of 16 metres. Its

surface area The surface area of a solid object is a measure of the total area that the surface of the object occupies. The mathematical definition of surface area in the presence of curved surfaces is considerably more involved than the definition of arc ...

is 2,700 square metres and its

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...

31,000 cubic metres. In front of this building, there is a telecommunication tower, which was used for broadcasting the programme of

Telesaar Telesaar is the designation of the first German private television station. It was brought in 1954 by the European Broadcast and Television AG, which also operates the transmitter of Europe 1. This was permitted, because until the end of 1956 the ...

. A new transmitter house with new 2x750 kW transmitter was built in 2015 next to the backup aerial, that was used until the shutdown in 2019. On the morning of 8 August 2012 an 80 meters tall part of the 280 meters high transmitter broke down. This was caused by a ragged guy wire. The damaged mast was demolished on 19 November 2012. Mast 1 was demolished on 13 June 2013, because it was useless without mast 2. D1G0094

History

The longwave transmitter traces its existence to the special state of the

Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name *Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist *Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...

Protectorate in the 1950s: Occupied by France in 1946, the French military authorities allowed the people to organize elections and govern themselves, becoming a Protectorate using the French Franc as money. It was integrated to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1957 as a compromise between France and Germany, after the Saar people decided by referendum against a "special european district" status they were proposed. The

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which i ...

was built in 1954, broadcasting since 1 January 1955, on land which is now located inside German borders. In 1959, one of its main masts was relocated to vertical.

References

External links

* {{Structurae, id=20010711, title=Radio masts of Europe 1 * http://perso.orange.fr/tvignaud/am/e1/fr-e1.htm (French) * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b45344 * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b45345 * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b45346 * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b45347 * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b46688 * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b46689
Google maps: transmitter building
Former radio masts and towers Radio masts and towers in Germany Buildings and structures in Saarlouis (district) Relocated buildings and structures Towers completed in 1955 1955 establishments in Saar

Technical details

History

See also

References

External links