Home | Back to DX History
Reichs-Rundfunk Gesellschaft ("Zeesen") 78 rpm Recording

In the days leading up to World War II, the German station, Reichs-Rundfunk Gesellschaft, commonly known as "Zeesen" (after the transmitter location), was one of the strongest on the bands. And it was no less a leader in the new field of international radio propaganda. Starting circa 1935, the station replied to listener letters with a small (4 inch) 78 rpm record.

Below are scans of the record, together with MP3 files of the audio content, which is in German on one side, English on the other. In addition to a short message, each side contains a song and a playing of the station's tuning signal. The song on the English side is "Der Lindenbaum," and on the German side "Ach, wie ist's moeglich dann." The label on the English side is marked, "Let's make Shortwave Broadcasting stand for Good Fellowship," and contains a drawing of the Zeesen antennas. The German side shows the Broadcasting House in Berlin.

Play English Side

English: "Germany calling. Cordial greetings to all DJC [call letters] friends in North America. We want you to enjoy a German folk song. ["Der Lindenbaum"] Thanks to all of you for the many kind letters of appreciation. We hope that you will remember that any day by tuning in our station you can enjoy a program from Germany. We close this message of friendship with our musical signature."


Play German Side

German: "Hier ist Deutschland, der Deutsche Kurzwellensender gruesst seine Hoerer und Freunde in Nordamerika mit einem Volkslied. ["Ach, wie ist's moeglich dann"] Wir danken jedem unserer Hoerer fuer die vielen freundlichen Briefe, die wir von Ihnen erhalten, und wuenschen Ihnen weiterhin guten Empfang. Der Deutsche Kurzwellensender bringt Ihnen taeglich die Heimat in Ihr fernes Heim. Schalten Sie sich ein, wenn das Rufzeichen ertoent, mit dem wir uns nun von Ihnen verabschieden."

(Translation: "This is Germany, the German Shortwave transmitter is greeting its listeners and friends in North America by a folk song. [song] We thank each of our listeners for the many friendly letters which we have received from you, and wish you good reception also in the future. The German Shortwave transmitter brings you daily the homeland into your far away home. Tune in when the call sign sounds, by which we now say good bye.")

Thanks to Harald Kuhl for the German text and translation, and for identifying the songs.