Ehndorf transmitter
Ehndorf transmitter is a mediumwave radio transmission mast located at Ehndorf, a village west of Neumünster in Schleswig-Holstein, Federal Republic of Germany. Owned by Deutsche Telekom, the facility broadcasts Deutschlandfunk on 1269 kHz (1268 kHz until 1978). It went in service in November 1967 at a power of 600 kW (then one of the highest powered transmitters in Europe), reduced to 300 kW in 1995. It can be heard across northwest Europe.
The Ehndorf antenna has 2 masts to allow directional radiation at night (the same frequency is used by a station in Novi Sad, Serbia). Both masts are groundfed 65 metres (213 ft) tall lattice steel constructions guyed in one level.
Cold War programming
During the daytime, Ehndorf aired Deutschlandfunk's German language programming for listeners in East Germany. In the evening, it aired programmes in Danish, Dutch, English, Norwegian and Swedish, for listeners in the free countries of northwest Europe. Deutschlandfunk's European Department was transferred to Deutsche Welle from 1 June 1993, which first replaced the distinctive productions for British and Irish listeners, and finally dropped transmissions from Ehndorf entirely. From 1 January 1994, Deutschlandfunk's German programmes became a speech service for all domestic listeners.
Maritime programming
Because of its good coverage of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, Ehndorf is used to transmit maritime meteorological reports at certain times, which are important for amateur sailors.