Radio stations in German South West Africa
 
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Locations of the "spark stations" in German South West Africa |
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The radio stations in German South West Africa (now Namibia ) enabled communication with the German Empire (now Germany ), German ocean-going ships and communication between strategic points within the country and partly to other German colonies in Africa . At that time they called the plant also radio en station .
background
The introduction of civil radio telegraphy meant a great step forward for the connection between the German Reich and its largest colony. The news of the outbreak of the First World War reached the German colony on August 2, 1914 via one of the radio stations . The message was transmitted from the major radio station in Nauen via the radio station Kamina ( German colony of Togo , today Togo ) to the major radio system in Windhoek . For the protected area, this meant mobilizing the protection force . In the course of the war , the troops of the South African Union marched into German South West Africa, and they also occupied the German radio stations. These were the large radio station of Windhoek and the coastal radio stations Swakopmund and Lüderitzbucht ( Lüderitz ) and later the alternative stations Aus and Tsumeb .
The radio stations, which were extinguishing spark transmitters at that time , were operated at wavelengths between 300 and 4500 meters. They were thus in the range of medium waves and long waves . Shorter wavelengths or higher frequencies could not be technically realized before and at the beginning of the First World War. It was only in the years that followed that it became technically possible to use shortwaves that were better suited to bridging large distances . The operation of transmitting and receiving systems on medium and long wave requires antenna systems of relatively large dimensions and great mast heights. T antennas were used to operate the radio stations in German South West Africa . The masts of these antennas ideally have a height of , i.e. a height that corresponds to a quarter of the wavelength. For a wavelength of 600 meters, for example, the antenna ideally has a height of 150 meters.
Major radio station Windhoek
The main radio station in Windhoek was supposed to ensure the traffic with the radio station in Kamina as well as with the station Nauen near Berlin. While Kamina was completed before the outbreak of World War I, the Windhoek radio station only went into operation a few days after the start of the war. The direct radio contact between the German Reich and the large radio station Windhoek was a technical record. With the radio communication link Nauen - Windhoek, the German telephony operator in mid-March 1914 covered a much greater distance than the Nauen - New York route. Windhoek is 8350 km away from Nauen. The distance Nauen - New York is 6360 km. The connection to Nauen could only be established sporadically.
The large radio station was set up on the mountains about 30 to 40 m above Windhoek. The first of the five planned towers was completed in the first week of December 1913. He was 120 m high. Due to technical problems that arose in the subsequent period, it was expected that the facility would be completed in March 1914.
The British government was also informed about the establishment of this station. As early as December 24, 1913, the consul of the British consulate in Lüderitzbucht reported to the Foreign Office in London:
"Sir, I have the honor to inform you that a wireless telegraphy station is in course of erection in Windhoek. The station is designed to establish direct communication with Nauen in Germany and it is expected that the new service will be in full working order by the 15th May 1914. "
When the war broke out, two Rehoboth Baster companies protected the radio station. From this point on, the station was only used for military purposes. The station was not always operational and was only able to establish radio contact with the radio stations Kamina ( German Colony Togo ) and Dar es Salaam ( German East Africa ) after August 5th . The German cruiser Königsberg was also informed about the events in this way. For the radio station in Windhoek, the station in Kamina was the most important link. Establishing direct radio contact with the German Reich was rarely possible. The station in Kamina was blown up on August 26, 1914 by the withdrawing German troops. With the march of Union troops to Windhoek, it was decided to move parts of the Windhoek radio station to Tsumeb.
Coastal radio stations Lüderitzbucht and Swakopmund
The idea of the coastal radio stations was to serve not only German, but also English ships, of which considerably more than German steamers were on the seas. The final decision on the location of the coastal radio stations was made by the engineer Köhler from the Society for Wireless Telegraphy in Berlin, who arrived in the protected area on August 5, 1911. After "heated discussions" the decision was made for a location by the sea in order to achieve a greater range to the ships at sea. The military representatives preferred a location in the interior of the country in order to ensure the security of the stations in the event of a war.
The plans of German radio telegraphy also aroused the interest of the British Admiralty. Sir Murray of the Admiralty in Whitehall asked the officials in the State Department for a list of the German radio stations overseas, containing the exact data of the stations.
"... giving the following details: name of stations, latitude and longitude, call letters, system power, wave lengths used, normal day radius of action in miles, and charges for messages."
It became clear how important this information was for British overseas policy and the British colonies. Earl Granville sent a list of the exact dates from Berlin to Edward Gray in the Foreign Office on September 11, 1912. On this list were:
| Name of Station (Station name) |
Latitude and Longitude (geographic coordinates) |
Call Letters (call sign) |
Normal radius of action in kilometers (combat radius in km) |
Wave length in meters (wavelength in m) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swakopmund | German SWAfrica (not indicated) |
KSK | 800-1000 | 600 |
| Lüderitz Bay | German SWAfrica 15 ° 10 '50 "E 26 ° 37' 26" S |
KLÜ | not indicate | 600 |
By August 1912, 8,887 words had been transmitted through both stations.
Since the large radio station Windhoek was not fully operational in July / August 1914, the coastal radio stations in Lüderitz and Swakopmund were of great importance. They were able to exchange messages with one another and also get in touch with the station that had opened in Lomé (Togo) shortly before the start of the war . The connection between Lomé and Lüderitz was often better than that between Lomé and the closer Swakopmund. The first connection between the coastal radio stations and Lomé was made on June 27, 1914. Already on August 1 and 2, warning telegrams arrived from Lomé with the instruction that one should not call at ports in Russia, France or England. From August 4th to 5th the news came from Lomé that England had declared war on Germany. All accessible German ships were then informed by the coastal radio stations. They also included the German gunboat Eber , which had been in Cape Town since the end of July . As a result of the report, the ship left the port and arrived in Lüderitzbucht on August 1st. Later, German ships called at neutral Brazilian ports.
The two coast radio stations were also used to eavesdrop on the radio traffic from the English and French stations on the continent. The messages were compared with those of the large radio station Windhoek, which could hardly receive messages from Nauen.
Swakopmund radio station
The necessary materials for the radio tower in Swakopmund arrived on October 6, 1911 with the steamer Carl Woermann from Germany. Construction was expected to start at the end of September 1911. However, work did not begin until the beginning of November 1911. There were doubts about the intended steel construction of the tower, as in Swakopmund the rust damage is very severe due to the high salt content in the air. The construction work was completed before the set deadline of late February 1912. The first radio telegraph station of the Reichspost of the protected area was completed on February 1st and opened on February 4th, 1912 in Swakopmund. The station had an output power of 5 kW .
With the radio system a connection was made with the steamer Windhoek over a distance of 2100 km and with the German East Africa liner Admiral contact was established over 2500 km and later over a record distance of 3760 km.
Due to the approaching Union troops, the station in Swakopmund was canceled on August 13, 1914. On September 14th, the South Africans bombed the still standing radio tower with the Armadale Castle . Three anchor turrets of the radio tower are still preserved today.
“As a remnant of a radio station that could have been of strategic importance in World War I, there are three tower-shaped anchoring foundations at the mouth of the Swakop. The wires that held the 86 meter high lattice tower of the station were anchored to these structures. ... After the outbreak of the World War in August 1914 and the advance of Union troops in South West Africa, the radio mast became a strategic object. Shortly after the English auxiliary cruiser "Armadale Castle" fired several shots at the transmission mast on September 14th, but they missed their target and hit a house and a chicken coop, the radio mast was blown up by the Germans themselves. "
Lüderitzbucht radio station
As the location for the radio station in Lüderitzbucht ( Lüderitz ), the decision was not made for the originally planned Shark Island , but for a place south of Roberthafen. There was enough space for the antenna bracing. The Lüderitzbucht station resembled the facility in Swakopmund, although it was not of the same strength. The Reichs-Funktelegraphenanstalt in Lüderitzbucht went into operation on June 3, 1912.
The station in Lüderitzbucht was dismantled on August 8, 1914 and put back into operation on August 18, 1914. After the bombardment of the radio tower in Swakopmund on September 14, 1914, radio operations were also stopped in Lüderitzbucht and the devices were moved to Aus. The South African troops landed in Lüderitzbucht on September 19, where they immediately occupied the post office and the signal station.
Alternate radio station Off
At the beginning of the First World War in South West Africa , the Germans built a replacement radio station near Aus because the coastal radio station in Lüderitzbucht had to be cleared on September 14, 1914. With its location and strong fortifications, Aus was well suited to withstand a siege for a long time. Radio operations began in Aus on September 15th. After a memorial stone on site, the radio station was inaugurated by Lieutenant Brock in December 2014. The Allgemeine Zeitung (AZ Windhoek) published on May 31, 2018 an aerial photo from January 1915 of the radio station near Aus.
In The First World War in the protected area is:
“Two antenna towers with a height of 50 m were built in Aus. A three-wire T-antenna was hung between the towers . The station had almost a similar performance as that in Lüderitzbucht. The communication with the English radio station Slangkop and with the newly established English radio station in Lüderitzbucht was perfect. The French station Tabou (Ivory Coast) was less audible than from the earlier Lüderitzbuchter station. On the other hand, the ship radio stations on the Angolan as well as on the southwest African coast and on the east coast in the Indian Ocean up to the level of Durban were easy to understand. The task of the station in Aus was to listen to press reports and to transmit unencrypted English orders to the governor immediately. It also enabled quick contact with the Union government in Pretoria and the British-South African command posts. This enabled information about prisoners to be exchanged. In addition, the station in Aus could also disrupt radio traffic. It helped to re-establish contact by radio via the Windhoek and Tsumeb stations on routes where the telegraph line was broken. The station worked for a relatively long time and was only dismantled on March 27, 1915 by the Schutztruppe after they had evacuated the place. Anything that could not be removed was blown up. Otherwise the rest was brought to Tsumeb. "
Backup radio station Tsumeb
The state radio station Tsumeb was built with the technology of the demolished coastal radio station Swakopmund and parts of the large radio station Windhoek. Construction began on September 14, 1914 and was completed on November 24, 1914. The 84 meter high radio tower was supplied with electricity from the Otavimine. Particularly during the dry season there was a good connection to Aus and to the Ukamas military radio station, to the Ivory Coast and to Guinea . It was handed over to the British on July 6, 1915 as the last radio station in the country.
Mobile radio stations
During the wars against the Herero and Nama , field radio telegraph systems from Telefunken, founded in 1903, were used for the first time for warfare. Theodor Leutwein , the commander of the Imperial Protection Force and governor of German South West Africa, was aware of the advantages of wireless communication, which enabled the troops to quickly pass on commands and coordinate them, especially during the war in the vast, impassable country. Radio telegraphy made it possible to communicate in almost any weather at any time of the day. It was also shown that the new technology was much more time-saving than heliography . There were 11 intermediate stations on the 500 km long heliograph route Windhoek - Keetmanshoop . Only two words can be passed per minute. Sending thirty words from Gibeon to Windhoek (300 km) thus took 5–6 hours. The radio telegraph gave 5 words per minute to 100 km or further and it did not need to be erected on a hill. Even when the waitress was absent, he would automatically record messages and write them down. Operations were only interrupted during severe thunderstorms. On the other hand, the Herero could not disturb the radio telegraph traffic due to the lack of suitable equipment. The new means of communication offered the troops a great deal of flexibility and speed.
On May 31, 1904, the airship battalion landed after a month's passage on board the steamer "Herzog" together with the machine gun department in Swakopmund. The troop consisted of four officers, four non-commissioned officers and 27 radio operators, who were used for the first time in South West Africa for waging war. The equipment included three mobile radio stations. Station 1 was on a cart and consisted of an apparatus cart, a motor cart and an equipment cart. It was the newest of the three stations destined for South West Africa. Station 2, on the other hand, was a car station that was built in 1900 by Siemens & Halske in Berlin. In the winter of 1903/1904 it was rebuilt and equipped with the telephone system. Station 3 was also located on a car that was built in 1902 by Siemens & Halske in Berlin and was later converted. The radio cart was hauled by eight oxen, the radio car with 20 oxen. Each station received an additional ox wagon for additional equipment . Transporting this complex equipment was time consuming and difficult.
The stations were equipped for two waves; for 350 m and for 875 m. The air wire was attached to a 2.10 m kite when there was enough wind, otherwise to small balloons. The filling was mostly two bottles of hydrogen weighing 52 kg. The hydrogen was produced in Bitterfeld . A copper wire mesh, which was rolled up during transport, was used as an electrical counterweight. A station could be set up and put into operation within 10 to 15 minutes.
See also
literature
- Reinhard Klein-Arendt: "Kamina calls Nauen!" The radio stations in the German colonies 1904–1918. Wilhelm Herbst Verlag, Cologne 1999, 3rd edition, ISBN 3-923925-58-1 .
- Sebastian Mantei: From the sandbox to the post and telegraph land - The establishment of the communication network in German South West Africa 1884-1915. Namibia Scientific Society, Windhoek 2007, ISBN 978-3-936858-92-1 . ( available online as a dissertation )
- Wilhelm R. Schmidt: As a telegraph builder in German Southwest. Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2006, ISBN 978-3-89702-992-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f From the “sand box” to the communication network The history of the development of the post and telegraph system in the colony of German South West Africa (1884 - 1915). Dissertation, University of Halle, December 2004.
- ↑ In From the “Sand Box” to the Communication Network The History of the Development of the Post and Telegraph System in the Colony of German South West Africa (1884 - 1915). (Dissertation, Uni Halle, December 2004) the distance Windhoek – Nauen is incorrectly given as 9750 km.
- ↑ Project worth millions. Allgemeine Zeitung, April 9, 2019.
- ↑ The coordinates of the turrets are: Tower 1: 22 ° 41′09.15 ″ S 014 ° 31′25.06 ″ E , Tower 2: 22 ° 41′07.56 ″ S 014 ° 31′27.66 ″ E , Tower 3: 22 ° 41 ′ 10.41 ″ S 014 ° 31′27.86 ″ E.
- ^ Namibiana book depot: Christine Marais
- ↑ SWAKOPMUND, Our Heritage, Ons Erfenis, Unser Erbe, 1980, ISBN 0 86848 051 7
- ↑ Reinhard Klein-Arendt: “Kamina calls Nauen!” The radio stations in the German colonies 1904–1918. 3. Edition. Wilhelm Herbst Verlag, Cologne 1999, ISBN 3-923925-58-1 , p. 285ff.
- ↑ The exact location of the radio station near Aus is no longer known today.
- ↑ Wolfgang Reith: The place from and its Kaiser Wilhelm monument. In: Allgemeine Zeitung (Windhoek). Retrieved on June 20, 2020 (one of the photos (Fig. 3) is an aerial photo of the radio station in Aus from January 1915).
- ↑ In Ukamas, Lieutenant Colonel Maritz and the Germans signed a contract on October 7, 2014, which provided for support for the protection force in the event of a South African attack. See: The Maritz Rebellion
- ↑ From the “sandbox” to the communication network The history of the development of the post and telegraph system in the colony of German South West Africa (1884 - 1915). Dissertation, Uni Halle, December 2004, p. 254.
- ↑ From the “sandbox” to the communication network The history of the development of the post and telegraph system in the colony of German South West Africa (1884 - 1915). Dissertation, Uni Halle, December 2004, p. 231.