The History of AFN Kaiserslautern

In December 1953, radio broadcasting came to Kaiserslautern. A studio was set up in a van on Kleber Caserne, broadcasting 350 watts. Soon after, construction began on a new facility in Vogelweh, and on October 21, 1954, AFN Kaiserslautern signed on from the new building on 5th Avenue. This building has been the home of AFN Kaiserslautern since. Soon after moving in, the radio power was increased to 10,000 watts. In the late 1970s, FM radio came to K-Town via a 5,000 watt transmitter, providing listeners with a choice of two radio stations and a variety of programming.

The early days of television were beneficial for the community as well. Ramstein and Vogelweh were among the first Air Force communities to receive this service, and after AFN Europe took over the TV function in 1972, was expanded to the rest of the Kaiserslautern Military Community.

Since 1954, there have been several small additions to allow AFN Kaiserlsautern to expand radio operations. However, it wasn't until 1997 that ground was broken for a new television facility. The building expansion houses a complete television studio, production facilities, and additional office space.

The Early Beginnings of AFN

In 1942, the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) became an official entity of the Department of Defense. For the previous two years, small, informal radio stations had cropped up from the Pacific Rim to Alaska. The mission of AFRS was to standardize broadcast practices and procure radio programming from the states for broadcast overseas. These shows included Jack Benny, Bob Hope, and many others.

As World War II progressed, AFRS expanded as well. The American Forces Network was officially born in Europe at the orders of General George C. Marshall and General Dwight D. Eisenhower. On July 4th, 1943, AFN officially signed on from shared facilities with the BBC in London.

AFN moved with the troops. AFN broadcasters were at D-Day, in Berlin, and many other places. At the end of WWII, AFN had 63 radio stations scattered throughout Europe. The drawdown after the war mandated closure of many of the facilities, and consolidations of many others.

In the late 1950s, television came to a limited Air Force audience in Germany. AFRS was redesignated as AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio & Television Service) to handle the growth. However, it took 14 years before the first Army units in Germany received television. To better handle the multi-service requirements, both services handed off their share of television, and AFN Europe took over all TV operations in 1972.

In the past 50 years, AFN has expanded to meet the needs of military communities overseas. For a more complete history of AFRTS and military broadcasting, visit the AFRTS Home Page.