Deutsche Welle

Type:	International public broadcaster
Founded:	3 May 1953
Founder(s):	name of founder(s) here
Ownership:	current ownership, year purchased
Headquarters:	Bonn
Country:	Germany
Employees:	Around 3,000(2016)
Revenue:	€324 m (2014)
Website:	Deutsche Welle Website
Key People
Peter Limbourg, Director General

Deutsche Welle (DW) (German Wave in English) is Germany’s international broadcaster founded in May 1953 with around 3,000 employees and freelancers from over 60 countries. It has its headquarters in Bonn and its main studio in Berlin and currently broadcasts in 30 languages.

History

Deutsche Welle first broadcasted with a speech from the then Federal President Theodor Heuss on May 3rd 1953 from the Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks (NWDR) studio in Cologne on behalf of the broadcasters of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1956, DW took over the broadcasting regulatory responsibility from NWDR - which replaced the Westdeutsche Rundfunk (WDR) and Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR). On the new broadcasting station Jülich the first shortwave transmitter becomes operational.

In 1962, DW - RADIO expands its programming with many additional broadcasting languages​​. The reportage tour "Cologne Kabul Express" takes the DW journalists to Afghanistan .

In 1963, DW begins to expand in Africa by broadcasting in ​​Kiswahili and Hausa.

In 1964 DW reporters in Cologne were on their way to expand in India.

In 1965, The German Wave Training Centre (DWAZ - later DWFZ) starts work and provides the first courses for foreign radio professionals. In addition, the " TransTel " is founded ( Society for German television transcription GmbH ) and put the relay station in Kigali (Rwanda) in operation .

In 1970, The Indonesian President Haji Mohamed Suharto , who came to power in 1965, visited the Federal Republic of Germany. In Bonn he gave Deutsche Welle an interview.

In 1974, in June 28, the foundation for the new broadcasting center of the DW is laid on Raderberggürtel in the south of Cologne. In the immediate neighborhood at the same, there is a new building for the German radio. The German Service of DW - RADIO is now on the air round the clock.

In 1980, a survey carried out by the International Shortwave Club reveals that DW is the most popular foreign TV channel - followed by BBC, Radio Netherlands, Voice of America and Radio Australia.

In 1991, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the DW Literature Prize is awarded to Eva Lisina and Olga Kowbasjuk in the presence of Russian and German literature writer Lew Kopelev.

In 1992, in April 1, the director Dieter Weirich starts the worldwide international television via satellite in Berlin DW - TV. First, there was a three, two- hour blocks (German and English ) broadcast. From November, the airtime was increased to 14hours and then, from July 1993, it was extended to 16 hours. Spanish was later on added as a third language. This was preceded by an agreement to acquire RIAS TV

In 1993, DW interviews former Soviet President and Nobel Peace Michael Gorbachev.

In 1993, an association of German peacekeepers were sent, from 1993 to 1994, to support the peacemaking UN operation in Somalia UNOSOM . The families of the military personnel was supplied with information from DT – TV and DW – Radio via satellite.

In 1997, in Nauen near Berlin one of the most modern shortwave transmitters in Europe is put into operation: The transmission power of the DW is amplified. DW - Radio can be received via short wave, especially in areas of conflict and in better quality

In 1998, the Asia editorial team received, after a quiz lottery in 1993 many letters. This turned out to be the most successful handset competition there was 1998: About 163,000 letters from around the world reached DW -radio. The survey asked about the style of the Cologne Cathedral.

In 1999, there was a protest against Budget cuts: About 400 employees of DW protest in Berlin were against the plan of the Federal Government to cancel funds for the international broadcaster amounting to more than 50 million marks .

In 2000, in the presence of the then Mayor, Bärbel Dieckmann, The Richtfest is celebrated in the new DW - radio house in Bonn. Three years later, The Deutsche Welle moves into the building complex that was originally intended for the members of the Bundestag.

In 2002, the 24 - hour GERMAN TV is launched in the US. The full program of ARD, ZDF and DW is offered for a fee. It contains more than 40 percent of informational programs, including Tagesschau and Heute Journal, including talk shows, political magazines and documentaries. 2006, the federal government cuts the funding and brings an end for GERMAN TV.

In 2005, the then Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder starts in Kuwait, together with Director General Erik Bettermann, symbolically the new Arabic TV channel DW . Immediately it broadcasts three hours daily in Arabic language. The DW is the first European station that presented TV news with Arabic Moderators in Arabic.

In 2008, more than 1000 participants from 100 countries took part in the DW Global Media Forum. The Iranian Nobel Price Laureate Shirin Ebadi asks in the conference that, “the digital gab between North and South to be closed as soon as possible.” At the same time, she criticized the censorship and open attack against journalists by the Iranian Government.

In 2009, in Bonn , the new master's program " International Media Studies " is set to begin. The first 22 students from 13 countries are welcomed in the presence of prominent guests. Almost 700 applications from around the world had reached the DW for the four-semester, bilingual study course.

DW Services

• Das Magazin der DW: The DW Magazine (Die Weltzeit) comes out every four months and is free to anyone who or requests it per mail

• Newsletter-Service der Deutschen Welle: DW offers a Newsletter to those who register at their website. There are four types of newsletters that are offered at the website. Some newsletters come out twice a day, containing all the important morning and evening news in a compact form. Some are offered once a day and others once a week

• DW app: DW offers an Add-free app for iOS, Android, Windows and Symbian which can be downloaded from their website

• Podcasts: DW offers a series of podcasts on art, tech, culture and controversial subjects

• RSS Feeds DW offers a list of RSS Feeds for those who want to receive every single news article and feature created at dw.com or would like to mix and match topics.

• Social Media DW can be found on social media, such as facebook and twitter

DW Akademie

DW Akademie is Germany's organization for international media development. They offer a full time, four-semester Master's, which is a bilingual curriculum that combines the disciplines media and development, journalism, communications and media management. This is a joint project together with the University of Bonn, the Bonn Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and Deutsche Welle, Germany's international broadcaster with headquarters in Bonn.