Radio Berlin International

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A Radio Berlin International QSL card
A Radio Berlin International QSL card

Radio Berlin International was the international broadcaster for the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It started in May 1959 to counter Deutsche Welle, the West German international broadcaster. Much of its output was news reports and information about the GDR. It offered a very professional and much more balanced (compared to other Eastern European broadcasters) perspective on life in a socialist country. It sent large quantities of very colorful and professionally produced publicity materials about life in the GDR to its listeners. The broadcaster ceased operations on 2 October 1990 following German reunification. The final broadcast was noted for the bitterness among some RBI staff about its "takeover", rather than "unification" with Deutsche Welle. The last words were, "Good bye and good luck."

Radio Berlin broadcast in many languages, with many of its announcers at the different services — such as English, French and even Danish — coming from their country's respective communist parties. It was one of the major international broadcasters of the Cold War era.

Interval signal of Radio Berlin International

The interval signal of RBI
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[edit] See also

RBI final English broadcast - Part 1

RBI final English broadcast - Part 2

Affectionate history blog of RBI