The first broadcasts of AFN Berlin , American Forces Network.
August 4, 1945.

AFN Berlin (American Forces Network) began broadcasting at 12:00 PM on August 4, 1945, becoming one of the most significant cultural and radio icons of divided Berlin.

The very first piece of music played to launch the schedule was George Gershwin’s famous “Rhapsody in Blue.”
The first official programs were broadcast from a large, requisitioned villa at Podbielskiallee 28 in the residential district of Berlin-Dahlem (within the American occupation sector).
Before moving into the villa, the military crew had operated temporarily for a couple of weeks using mobile equipment housed in two trucks.

The station’s technical core was assembled using components and mobile equipment salvaged from the U.S. Army’s 5th and 15th mobile units.
During the dramatic Berlin Blockade, the station expanded its operations to a 24-hour broadcast schedule.
AFN Berlin’s powerful antennas and non-stop music helped pilots involved in the Airlift (Berliner Luftbrücke) maintain their bearings during night flights and stay within the designated air corridors.
Although the station was established to inform and entertain U.S. troops, AFN’s music programs became a cult phenomenon among the local population.

The station introduced Berlin to genres that were otherwise unavailable on German broadcasters at the time, such as jazz, swing, blues, and rock ‘n’ roll.
In 1969, the broadcaster expanded its operations by launching AFN TV Berlin studios on Saargemünder Straße, directly opposite the Berlin Brigade headquarters.

The radio station remained in continuous operation for nearly fifty years. Following the reunification of Germany and the subsequent withdrawal of Allied forces from Berlin, AFN Berlin officially ceased all broadcasting on July 15, 1994, concluding its historic programming with the notes of the American national anthem.