The Brocken Transmitter (german: Sender Brocken) is a facility for
FM- and
TV-transmitters on the
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 Elbe. ...
, the highest mountain in northern Germany.
The facility includes two transmission towers. The old tower was built between 1936 and 1937.
It is 53 metres high (including its
antenna
Antenna ( antennas or antennae) may refer to:
Science and engineering
* Antenna (radio), also known as an aerial, a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic (e.g., TV or radio) waves
* Antennae Galaxies, the name of two collid ...
mast, which no longer exists, it had a height of 95 metres) and has an
observation deck
An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed ...
, which can be reached by
elevator
An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...
. This tower was intended to be used after 1939 for TV transmissions to central Germany, but due to the beginning of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, it was transformed into a radar facility.
Unlike most modern TV towers, the old tower looks like a block of flats with a square cross section. The arrangement of the windows in the observation deck is similar to those in the restaurant in the
Radio tower Berlin.
In 1973 a new TV tower was built on Brocken. This 123-meter, freestanding steel-tube tower stands on three legs,
which hold shafts for cable and stairways for personnel access.
Above the legs are three decks for directional radio transmission aerials. The new TV tower is not accessible to the public.
While Germany was divided into
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
, the Brocken transmitter was used for TV and FM-transmissions, even though it lay in the restricted area of the east-west frontier (on the Eastern Side). Its location so close to the border enabled it to be received in parts of the West.
In the first half of the 1990s the transmitting aerial of the old tower was removed and replaced by a
radome
A radome (a portmanteau of radar and dome) is a structural, weatherproof enclosure that protects a radar antenna (radio), antenna. The radome is constructed of material transparent to radio waves. Radomes protect the antenna from weather and ...
holding
air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
radar equipment.
The Brocken Transmitter is property of
Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom AG (; short form often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a German telecommunications company that is headquartered in Bonn and is the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. Deutsche Telekom was ...
.
Signals transmitted from Brocken
Analogue television
*
ARD (originally
DFF1), VHF channel E6 (Horizontal) 100 kW
*
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 ...
, UHF channel 49 500 kW
*
MDR 3rd Programme (originally DFF2), UHF channel 34 (Horizontal) 1000 kW
FM radio
*
MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt, 94.6 MHz (60 kW)
*
MDR Jump
MDR Jump is a German public radio station owned and operated by the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR).
History
MDR Jump started broadcasting on 1 January 2000, initially with a programme mainly directed at the 14–29-year-old age bracket, similar ...
, 91.5 MHz (100 kW)
*
MDR Figaro, 107.8 MHz (10 kW)
*
Deutschlandradio Kultur
Deutschlandfunk Kultur (; abbreviated to ''DLF Kultur'' or ''DKultur'') is a culture-oriented radio station and part of Deutschlandradio, a set of national radio stations in Germany. Initially named ''DeutschlandRadio Berlin'', the station was re ...
, 97.4 MHz (100 kW)
*
89.0 RTL, 89.0 MHz (60 kW)
*Radio SAW, 101.4 MHz (100 kW)
See also
*
List of Towers
Several extant building fulfill the engineering definition of a tower: "a tall human structure, always taller than it is wide, for public or regular operational access by humans, but not for living in or office work, and are ''self-supporting' ...
External links
*
*
*http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b2085
*http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b41976
{{coord, 51.8005, N, 10.6141, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Radio masts and towers in Germany
Observation towers
1937 establishments in Germany
Towers completed in 1937