I grew up in Berlin listening to RIAS, “Voice of the Free World.” Immediately following WWII, there was no television. We got our information from the radio and newspapers. During the post-war occupation, Great Britain created the broadcasting station NWDR (Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk – Northwest German Radio) for the British Zones of Germany and Berlin; the United States gave rise to RIAS (Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor – Radio in the American Sector) for the American Zones of Germany and Berlin. For nearly half a century, RIAS broadcast news, culture, and entertainment programs to the German people.
RIAS History
In 1946, the US military created DIAS (Drahtfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor – Wired Radio Broadcasting in the American Sector). Six months later, DIAS morphed into RIAS reporting via medium wave transmitters. In 1948, Great Britain transferred control of NWDR to West German operators while RIAS remained under control of the US military. Eventually, the station staff was almost entirely German, supervised by a small American team.
It was a radio like this that brought us RIAS – The Voice of the Free World – when I was a child. www.walled-in-berlin.com
The purpose of RIAS-radio and television
Initially, the purpose of RIAS-radio was to provide the West German people with news and political commentary. The station provided live reporting during key Cold War events, such as the 1948/1949 Berlin Blockade and Airlift, the workers’ riots in East Germany in 1953, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev’s 1958 ultimatum calling for the withdrawal of Western forces from Berlin, and US President John F. Kennedy’s visit in Berlin in 1963. Aside from airing in the West, RIAS-radio also broadcast into East Germany although listening to western stations was strongly discouraged (if not forbidden) in the Soviet-controlled East Germany. Nevertheless, the station had a huge audience in East Germany and was the most popular foreign radio service during that time.
In 1988, RIAS-TV went on the air, only months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. Prior to 1988, no Western television broadcasts had been specifically targeted at East Germany, although many of the domestic West German TV networks could be received throughout most of the East. RIAS-TV had come to life in time to broadcast the fall of the wall to the East German people. In 1992, following re-unification, Deutsche Welle (Germany’s International broadcaster) inherited the RIAS-TV broadcast facilities, and in 1994, RIAS-radio morphed into the public radio station Deutschlandradio.
Popular RIAS radio Programs
Radio programs always opened with, “Hier ist RIAS Berlin, die Stimme der Freien Welt– this is RIAS Berlin, the voice of the free world.” As a child, my favorite program was “Onkel Tobias vom RIAS,” which was aired from 1947 to 1972. Every Sunday at 10:00 am, Fritz Genschow, author of many children’s movies and plays, put on a radio show together with a group of young radio actors. Years later, I enjoyed listening to programs, like “Der Insulaner” (the islander), a political spoof mocking communism, the RIAS-Kammerchor, a professional chamber choir, and the RIAS-Symphonie-Orchester, which still exists today.
For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.
Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.
