Deutsche Welle facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Deutsche Welle

Headquarters in Bonn
Type	Broadcasting news and discussions
Country	Germany
Broadcast area	Worldwide
Affiliates	World Radio Network
Headquarters	Bonn, Germany
Programming
Language(s)	German, English, Bengali, Spanish, Hindi, Tamil, Russian, Arabic, Persian, Dari, Pashto, Urdu, Albanian, Amharic, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Mandarin Chinese, French, Greek, Hausa, Indonesian, Kiswahili, Turkish, Macedonian, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Urdu
Picture format	1080i (HDTV)
Ownership
Owner	Federal Government of Germany
Key people	Peter Limbourg (Director-General) Claudia Roth (Funder as federal commissioner)
History
Launched	3 May 1953; 72 years ago (1953-05-03)
Availability
Streaming media
YouTube	DW News
Livestream	DW English

Deutsche Welle (which means German Wave), often called DW, is a German TV and radio network. It is funded by the German government. DW broadcasts news and discussions to people all over the world.

You can find DW content in 32 different languages. Its main TV channels are in English, Spanish, and Arabic. The goal of DW is to provide reliable news. It also helps people learn German and promotes understanding between different cultures.

DW offers articles on its website and has a special center called DW Akademie. This center helps develop media around the world. You can watch and listen to DW programs online, on YouTube, through satellites, and on various apps.

DW started broadcasting in 1953. Its main office is in Bonn, Germany, where radio shows are made. Most TV shows are produced in Berlin. Both locations create content for DW's news website. In 2020, over 4,000 people from more than 140 countries worked for DW.

How DW Started and Grew

Early Days of German Broadcasting

Before DW, there was a similar station called Deutsche Welle GmbH. It started in 1924 in Berlin. This older station broadcast regularly from 1926. It was partly owned by the German government and the state of Prussia.

In 1933, this station became part of another company. The current DW sees itself as following in the footsteps of Germany's first international broadcaster. This early broadcaster was later renamed by the Nazis.

DW's Official Launch

DW's first broadcast happened on May 3, 1953. The West German President, Theodor Heuss, gave a speech. Soon after, other German broadcasters agreed to share responsibility for DW.

At first, a broadcaster called NWDR managed DW. Later, in 1955, WDR took over. The German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, strongly supported creating an international German broadcasting station.

In 1960, DW became an independent public organization. This happened after a court decided that broadcasting from Germany was part of the government's foreign affairs. On June 7, 1962, DW officially joined ARD, a group of public broadcasters.

DW was first located in Cologne. After Germany reunited, the government moved to Berlin. DW's main office then moved to Bonn.

Germany Reunites and DW Expands

When East and West Germany reunited in 1990, East Germany's international broadcaster, Radio Berlin International (RBI), closed. Some RBI staff joined DW. DW also gained some of RBI's broadcasting equipment and frequencies.

DW's TV channel, DW (TV), began in 1992. It took over the facilities of a West Berlin TV station called RIAS-TV. DW (TV) started broadcasting in German and English via satellite. A Spanish segment was added later.

By 1995, DW (TV) was broadcasting 24 hours a day. It had 12 hours in German, 10 hours in English, and 2 hours in Spanish. DW also took over some foreign-language programs from another radio service in 1993.

DW also published books based on its programs. For example, German Heritage in 1967 and African Writers on the Air in 1984.

DW Goes Online

In September 1994, DW was the first German public broadcaster to have a website. At first, it mostly listed contact information. By 1996, it became a news website.

The website's address changed a few times. In 2015, DW moved to its current address, www.dw.com. DW designed its website to be easy to use. It features pictures, videos, and in-depth reports in many languages.

DW's news website is available in seven main languages. These include Arabic, Chinese, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese for Brazil, and Russian. Persian became another main language in 2007.

The website focuses on German and European news. It also offers information about Germany and German language courses. DW created a German learning course called Deutsch, Warum Nicht? with the Goethe-Institut.

In 2003, a new law made DW's website an equal part of DW's services. This means the website is as important as DW-TV and DW Radio.

In 2009, DW-TV added two new channels in Asia. These channels offered different mixes of German and English programs. In 2011, DW reduced some of its radio services. It focused more on TV and online content.

New Look for DW News

On June 22, 2015, DW TV launched a new 24-hour English news channel called DW News. It had a new design and studio. Before this, DW's news programs were called Journal.

The new channel offers 30-minute news updates every hour. It also has longer programs twice a day on weekdays. DW News broadcasts from Berlin. Its German, Spanish, and Arabic channels also got a new look.

At the same time, DW's news website moved to the .com address. It also added a social media feed to its front page. The updated DW services used the slogan 'Made for Minds'.

Future Plans for DW

DW has a plan to grow its company. It wants to improve its news and TV coverage worldwide. The plan is to have two TV channels in almost every region of the world. These channels will broadcast in German, English, Spanish, and Arabic.

DW also plans to offer more regional news online. It wants to make its website content better suited for each area. DW's budget for 2016 was 301.8 million euros.

In February 2018, DW-TV released a documentary called "The Climate Cover Up – Big Oil's Campaign of Deception". This film showed that large oil companies knew about climate change since 1957.

How DW Gets Its Money

DW receives its funding from the German government. This money comes from federal tax revenue.

Unlike other public broadcasters in Germany, DW is not funded by a broadcasting fee. Instead, it gets money directly from federal taxes. The Ministry for Culture and Media is in charge of this funding. This allows DW to have very little or no advertising.

Challenges and Censorship

DW has faced challenges in some countries. On April 10, 2019, Venezuela's government stopped DW's Spanish channel. The service was restored by April 15.

In 2019, Russia's government accused DW of encouraging protests. It threatened action if DW continued. Russia's parliament also accused DW of breaking election laws. However, Russia's Foreign Minister later said he did not support banning foreign media.

On February 3, 2022, Russia shut down DW's office in Moscow. It also took away the work permits of DW staff. This was in response to Germany banning a Russian state-run channel. DW then planned to move its Moscow operations to Riga, Latvia.

In March 2022, a court in Belarus labeled DW Belarus content as "extremist." In April 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Belarus called DW Belarus an "extremist group."

On June 30, 2022, DW was banned in Turkey. This happened after Turkey's media regulator asked DW to pay a license fee or stop broadcasting.

In October 2022, Iran placed sanctions on DW Farsi. This was because of DW's coverage of the 2022 Iranian protests. Iran accused DW of "supporting terrorism."

DW Logos Over Time

• 

  First logo (1953)

• 

  Second logo (1992–1995), used when DW TV started

• 

  Third logo (1995–2003)

• 

  Fourth logo (2003–2012)

• 

  Fifth and current logo (2012–present)

Languages DW Broadcasts In

 * partly by Deutschlandfunk (until 1993)

How DW Reaches Its Audience

DW programs are mainly sent out through satellites and the internet. Local FM radio stations also re-broadcast them. In the past, shortwave radio was the main way international broadcasters reached people.

DW still uses shortwave broadcasts for parts of Africa. This is because many people there can still be reached by radio.

The TV programs are sent through various satellite channels. They are also put into cable networks. You can watch them live on the DW website and in the ARD media library. Since 2019, DW has used the Tor network to help people in countries with censorship access its websites.

DW was involved in research to improve shortwave radio using digital technology. They supported the Digital Radio Mondiale system. In 2008, DW started a project with the BBC. However, this project ended because not enough listeners used it.

Shortwave Relay Stations

During the Cold War, DW had many shortwave relay stations. These were in places like Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe.

• Trincomalee, Sri Lanka (1984 to 2013): This station had powerful shortwave and medium wave transmitters.
• Kigali, Rwanda: This station opened in 1963 and covered Africa. It closed on March 28, 2015.
• Sines, Portugal: This station closed on October 30, 2011.
• Radio Antilles, Montserrat

DW also used a relay station in Malta from 1974 to 1996. It helped cover the Americas, southern Asia, and the Far East. DW also shared a transmitting station in Antigua with the BBC. This station closed in 2005.

In July 2011, DW made big changes. They greatly reduced shortwave radio broadcasting. Instead, they expanded their television broadcasting.

Stations That Lease Time to DW

In 2013, DW rented time on these relay stations:

• Woofferton, United Kingdom (BBC World Service)
• Kranji, Singapore (BBC Far Eastern Relay Station)
• Dhabayya, United Arab Emirates (United Emirates Radio)
• Nakhon Sawan, Thailand (BBC East Asian Relay Station)
• Ascension Island (BBC Atlantic Relay Station)
• Meyerton, South Africa (Sentech)

People at DW

Leaders of DW

The current Director-General, Peter Limbourg, in 2016

• 1960–1969: Hans Otto Wesemann [de]
• 1969–1982: Walter Steigner
• 1982–1984: Conrad Ahlers
• 1984–1986: Heinz Fellhauer (interim)
• 1986–1987: Klaus Schütz
• 1987–1990: Heinz Fellhauer
• 1990–2002: Dieter Weirich
• 2002: Reinhard Hartstein (interim)
• 2001–2013: Erik Bettermann [de; ar]
• 2016–present: Peter Limbourg

DW Presenters

• Tim Sebastian
• Sarah Kelly
• Phil Gayle
• Brent Goff
• Nicole Frölich

DW Akademie: Helping Media Grow

DW Akademie is DW's international center. It focuses on media development, consulting, and journalism training. It works with broadcasters, media groups, and universities worldwide. Its goal is to help free and independent media grow, especially in developing countries.

The German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development mainly funds this work. Other supporters include the German Foreign Office and the European Union.

DW Akademie offers an 18-month training program for young journalists. This program teaches about radio, television, and online content. It is for aspiring journalists from Germany and other regions where DW broadcasts.

DW Akademie also offers a Master's Program called "International Media Studies." This program is for media professionals from developing countries. It combines media development, media rules, and communication. The classes are in English and German.

Carsten von Nahmen became the head of DW Akademie in September 2018. He was previously a senior correspondent and deputy editor-in-chief for DW.

Learn German with DW

DW's website has a special section for learning German. It offers materials for all levels, from beginner to advanced. You can find free video and audio courses with exercises.

One popular resource is an animated series called "Harry Lost in Time." This series is for beginners. It tells the story of Harry Walkott, who gets stuck in time in the Black Forest. The series teaches German words and grammar. It also provides exercises for users.

DW Freedom of Speech Award

The DW Freedom of Speech Award started in 2015. It honors people or groups who have done great work to promote freedom of speech.

• 2024: Yulia Navalnaya and the Russian Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK)

Related Topics

• BBC
• Euronews
• InfoMigrants
• Karin Helmstaedt – a DW presenter
• Max Hofmann – DW's chief in Brussels
• Television in Germany
• List of world news channels

See also

In Spanish: Deutsche Welle para niños