Book “Power from the Eastside!” – DT64: “The more restless the times, the more restless we became too”

DT64 was discontinued in 1993. Why is it worth it to remember this station?

Marion Brasch: Because we made a completely new radio in the period before and after 1989. There hasn’t been anything like a turning point for us: we continued to do what we did before the fall of the Berlin Wall afterward.

Alexander Pehlemann: For me as a listener, DT64 was a very formative station, so my involvement in the book project also has nostalgic reasons. What made it special was the fact that it was a youth radio station that broadcast 24 hours a day. And that in a broad spectrum that also offered a lot of space for niche topics, for example in the area of ​​pop cultural subversions. That was something special.

Also for the West?

Pehlemann: In any case! Of course there was a competition, especially in Berlin with the channels Rias, SFB and others. Of course, they all tried to throw out the best bait to attract the youth. And last but not least – especially in the period after the fall of the Berlin Wall – DT64 was also about identity negotiations on a cultural and media level.

To what extent?

Brash: Even in the station’s early phase from 1964 onwards, it was not just about entertaining young people, but also about dealing with their issues. This meant that the station followed the party line for a long time. But the more restless times became, the more restless we became. The editorial team was very young back then – so the problems of the young people were also our problems. When the station was about to be closed, the young people were driven to the streets because they said: This station is literally existential for us.

Ultimately The fight to keep the station was not successful. Is the political handling of DT64 also symptomatic of the general handling of the legacy from the East?

Brash: Absolutely! This is a prime example of this. It was a premeditated plan for the station to be wound down. The fact that the plans for a quick closure initially failed was already a considerable success for our commitment.

What was the background for its founding in 1964?

Pehlemann: In 1964, the FDJ organized the so-called Germany meeting, during which a festival broadcaster was launched. Hence the name: DT64. The station was a novelty because, on the one hand, the moderation was relatively free and, on the other hand, it also played a lot of beat music. A year later, however, beat music was banned again in the GDR. And so the station has always been subject to the country’s cultural-political turmoil and U-turns over the years.

The founding of the station was accompanied by the hope that young people would be able to better come to terms with the circumstances. For example, the then head of state Walter Ulbricht was an important early supporter of the station. To what extent did this calculation work?

Brash: If I go by myself now: I only listened to the station very specifically when something interested me. But in general it was the case that the SED understood very early on that this station had to be given a longer leash than other stations or institutions.

Why?

Brash: Because it was about the youth and it was clear that you had to offer them something to keep them engaged. In this respect, we were definitely privileged compared to other media. But we only realized this looking back. We didn’t realize that at the time.

When are SDid you come into contact with DT64 for the first time?

Pehlemann: That was in 1986. Before that, I was at a sports school in Frankfurt/Oder, where I could also receive Western channels. Then I had to go to Torgelow on the Polish border, where western broadcasters had very difficult access. But DT64 only came on VHF there in 1987. A program that I listened to regularly before that was the “Beatkiste” on Voice of the GDR with Lutz Schramm. Shortly afterwards – New Year’s Eve 1986 – he made a special program “Parocktikum” there. Over five hours in total, it was crazy.

What was going on?

Pehlemann: A lot of punk, new wave, post punk, but also Eastern European stuff. And also recordings from the GDR, which – as it later turned out – were actually illegal. They were sent, but nothing happened. That lured and shaped me very much. Over time, “Parockticum” became the rhythm of my life. For me, the show was not just access to a music world, but to a cultural world as a whole.

Brash: I also heard the “Parockticum,” for example, occasionally. Otherwise, I remember the program “Mensch du”: There were reports about homosexuality in the mid-80s. That really fascinated me. The topic didn’t affect me personally, but I thought it was good that the station began to open up to such topics. But you also have to say: the normal daily routine at that time was almost unbearable.

To what extent?

Brash: The station was of course completely in line with the government, that should not be forgotten. Typical for that time, for example, were long harvest reports.

How is it that the station still has a comparatively rebellious image?

Brash: He didn’t have the rebellious image at the beginning, that came later. This started in 1988 with the ban on the magazine “Sputnik” and with Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika policies. For example, the legendary story came about that the then DT64 editor Silke Hasselmann said live on the show: “Today a Sputnik crashed.” That was a subtle form of rebellion. A year later, a moderator refused to read out the SED’s official statement on the massacre at Tiananmen Square in Beijing because he found it too agitational. This form of refusal did not exist before. That’s why DT64 was not rebellious overall – but a station with niches that had more freedom in certain areas than other media.

Pehlemann: You also have to make a distinction: the station was already subversive in terms of pop culture, but not in terms of politics. For example, it was also forbidden to play songs by GDR bands that dealt with the issue of right-wing radicalism in their own society – simply because the official doctrine was: There are no longer any fascist tendencies in the GDR. However, songs by FRG bands that dealt with neo-Nazism in the West were already allowed to be played – absurd!

In August 1989 you, Ms. Brasch, left the SED. Were you not worried at the time that this could have professional consequences?

Brash: No, because at that point the SED had to worry about completely different, much larger issues than little Brasch leaving the party. I left primarily because of the SED’s handling of the Tiananmen massacre. Then I said to myself: I don’t want to put up with this anymore.

After the reunification you will have a meeting with your colleaguesin for the receipt of the station fought. Why? For example, you could have simply looked for a new job in the old federal states.

Brash: There were two reasons for this. On the one hand, I loved the work and the environment there – it was like home to me. On the other hand, I also felt an obligation: towards the listeners and those who took to the streets for us. And it was clear: once the station is gone, it won’t come back.

In 1993, DT64 was transferred to MDR Sputnik. Was it possible to leave lasting traces there?

Pehlemann: Not for long. That quickly became a different program. Individual programs were taken over – but the overall spirit was completely different. MDR Sputnik gradually became one boring mainstream channel among many – that’s what differentiated it from DT64.

Heiko Hilker, Alexander Pehlemann, Andreas Ulrich, Jörg Wagner (eds.): Power from the Eastside! Youth radio DT64 – mass medium and mass movement. Ventil-Verlag, 384 pages, br., 28 €.