On August 13, 1961, communist East Germany began building the Berlin Wall, dividing Germany for decades. To mark the 50th anniversary of this event, Deutsche Welle will be broadcasting live from the memorial service to be held in Berlin on August 13 – starting at 8:00 UTC. Guests for the live broadcast will include the Federal President of Germany, Christian Wulf, Representative of the Federal Government for Culture, Bernd Neumann, the Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit and historian Freya Klier.

In addition, DW has produced three documentaries surrounding the Wall’s construction, as well as a range of features and online content. The three documentaries will examine different facets of the Wall’s existence and be shown as part of DW-TV’s In Focus series. The Short Life of Chris Gueffroy, about the 20-year-old whose death in 1989 became synonymous with death along the Wall. The Berlin Wall will show how people lived in the divided city of Berlin. And The Lindenberg File tells the story of Udo Lindenberg’s campaign to perform a concert in East Germany that lasted eight years.

Find out more about the Berlin Wall from DW. And if you want to learn more about life in divided Germany, take a tour of the inner German border with Walled In!

Twenty radio stations in Pakistan have picked up a series of German language courses from Deutsche Welle. “German – Why not?” was broadcast for the first time yesterday and the 26-episode series will continue until January 2012 on radio stations throughout the country. Included are the metropolitan areas of Islamabad and Lahore as well as many rural areas. Although it is considered one of the most-loved second languages in Pakistan, there is a lack of German language courses. DW hopes to fill in these gaps.The course will be broadcast every Monday at 10:00 am local time.

Find out more about DW’s German courses or contact our Business and Sales team.

DW Director General Erik Bettermann is currently in Latin America, presenting DW’s new television schedule for the region, with stops in Mexico, Chile Paraguay, Brazil, Panama and Colombia. Starting in February 2012, DW will expand its Spanish-language programming from two hours to 18 hours daily.

“Latin America is a continent with a lot of potential. Due to its political, economical and cultural relevance, it is one of our main target regions,” said Bettermann. “DW is already very important for information seekers and partners between Mexico and Argentina – and we want to expand this with more programming in Spanish.”

In Mexico, Bettermann and Germany’s Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, spent more than an hour with participants of the “Young Voices” Media Dialogue. They answered questions posed by up-and-coming journalists from Germany and Latin America. Participants included prominent young media workers who are bringing their ideas, stories and projects to the public forefront – often in unconventional ways. They posted their impressions, ideas and questions regarding the Media Dialogue on the event’s blog. “A positive culture shock”, “A successful exercise in collective intelligence”, “The beginning of a sustainable network,” was how they described the meeting.

In Guadalajara, Bettermann met with officials from La Red – the largest public broadcasting network in Spanish-speaking Latin America – to sign a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement solidified the two broadcasters cooperation in the future, with La Red integrating audio, video and online content into its line-up.

In Chile, Bettermann met with the country’s President, Sebastian Pinera, who said that DW could fill an important gap with programming and information from Europe.

Alicia Barcena, General Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), also sees the potential of the expansion of programming in Latin America. She said that Germany and Latin America have a lot to offer each other – especially in the transfer of knowledge in the areas of technology and innovation. Barcena and Bettermann signed a Memorandum of Understanding for DW’s participation as media partner in next year’s Latin America-Europe Summit in Santiago de Chile.

Bettermann appeared on “Media and Human Rights” a DW coproduction with ARTV. Host Gonzalo Caceres led the discussion with human rights activists and prominent journalists, as the talked about the relationship between the media and the government in dictatorial countries.

DW is currently filming and producing a new documentary about the Scorpions – one of the most famous rock bands of all time. The group from Hannover is currently in the middle of their farewell tour and DW will be accompanying them along the way and filming their tour, their work in the studio and a taking a look at their private lives.

A legendary rock band is calling it quits. In 2010, the Scorpions announced a farewell tour that will take them around the world and back over three years. Big City Nights will be documenting this monumental journey and exploring the band’s fascinating history. You can find all of the information about the documentary and the tour right here. Our team will keep you updated each week with all of the latest news, audio and video clips. Welcome to the film’s website – and stay tuned for more.

The documentary “Big City Nights” will be premiered in 2012. Until then, fans will be offered exclusive material on the accompanying blog.

 

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is in full gear in Germany – and a special project from DW-AKADEMIE is helping to provide more coverage to the feminine side of soccer. DW-AKADEMIE invited eight TV journalists – from Bhutan, Egypt, Palestine, Ghana, Nigeria, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico to take part in a workshop in Berlin. The results from “Reporting the Women’s World Cup 2011” have already been broadcast on ZDF (in German) and Phoenix and are now also available on the DFB website. The team also includes trainees in media design (audio and video) and will produce a total of 20 stories surrounding the Women’s World Cup.

Find out more about DW-AKADEMIE or check out DW’s coverage of the Women’s World Cup.