Deutsche Welle

Deutsche Welle (pronounced [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈvɛlə] ^ⓘ; 'German Wave'), commonly shortened to DW, is a German state-funded television network, and public service international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite television service consists of channels in English, Spanish, and Arabic. The work of DW is regulated by the Deutsche Welle Act, stating that content is intended to be independent of German government influence. DW is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).

DW offers regularly updated articles on its news website and runs its own centre for international media development, DW Akademie. The broadcaster's stated goals are to produce reliable news coverage, provide access to the German language, and promote understanding between peoples. It is also a provider of live streaming world news, which, like all DW programs, can be viewed and listened via its website, YouTube, satellite, rebroadcasting and various apps and digital media players.

DW has been broadcasting since 1953. It is headquartered in Bonn, where its radio programmes are produced. However, television broadcasts are produced almost entirely in Berlin. Both locations create content for DW's news website. As of 2020, Deutsche Welle had 1,668 employees (annual average). In total, over 4,000 people of over 140 nationalities work in DW's offices in Bonn and Berlin, as well as at other locations worldwide.

A predecessor with a similar name was Deutsche Welle GmbH, founded in August 1924 by German diplomat and radio pioneer Ernst Ludwig Voss in Berlin and broadcast regularly from 7 January 1926. The station was initially owned by 70% by Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft and 30% by the Free State of Prussia. From 1931 onwards, Deutsche Welle broadcast from the Berlin Broadcasting House. On 1 January 1933 Deutsche Welle GmbH was officially transferred to Deutschlandsender GmbH.

The station sees itself in the tradition of the first German foreign broadcaster, the Weltrundfunksender [de] ('World Broadcaster') of the Weimar Republic. The Weltrundfunksender was renamed to Deutscher Kurzwellensender [de] ('German Shortwave Broadcaster') by the Nazis in 1933.

DW's first shortwave broadcast took place on 3 May 1953 with an address by the then-West German President, Theodor Heuss. On 11 June 1953, ARD public broadcasters signed an agreement to share responsibility for Deutsche Welle. At first, it was controlled by Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR). In 1955, NWDR split into Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR), WDR assumed responsibility for Deutsche Welle programming.

Politically, the creation of a German international broadcasting station was supported by CDU chancellor Konrad Adenauer. To prevent governmental indoctrination in Germany, broadcasting is a matter of the federal states. In a years-long dispute between the Adenauer and the federal states of Germany, the federal government was allowed to create Deutschlandfunk aiming GDR citizens and Deutsche Welle for an international audience. In 1959, Adenauer presented a bill to establish three federal broadcasting companies: Deutschlandfunk, Deutsche Welle, and Deutschland-Fernsehen ('Germany-TV'). The Federal Constitutional Court stopped Adenauer's television plans. Radio, on the other hand, was permitted as a federal institution.

In 1960, Deutsche Welle became an independent public body after a court ruled that while broadcasting to Germany was a state matter, broadcasting from Germany was part of the federal government's foreign affairs function.