Ochsenkopf Transmitter


The Ochsenkopf Transmitter is a radio and TV tower of reinforced concrete, which was built in 1958 on the summit of the Ochsenkopf mountain, the second-highest mountain in the Fichtelgebirge mountain chain in Northern Bavaria, Germany. The tower replaced a guyed steel tube TV mast that collapsed in January 1958 as result of icing. The tower, which is not accessible to the public, has a hyperbolic-shaped basement with five floors for technical equipment. Above it, there are platforms for directional antennas. The antennas for FM-transmission are on the upper part of the concrete tower, those for TV transmission on a steel tube mast on the top.

Transmitting to the former GDR

Ochsenkopf TV Tower played an important role in transmitting to the former GDR many West German FM and TV programs, notably ARD, West Germany's first – and between 1952 and 1963 only – television channel. Its signal could penetrate deep into the southern territory of East Germany due to its closeness to the border, its use of a low frequency, and of vertical polarization. Under good conditions, its signal could be received as far away as Görlitz on the East German-Polish border, even though most aerials there were pointed at the West Berlin transmitters.
The transmitter required large and specifically mounted aerials nicknamed Ochsenkopf-Antenne, or Ochsenkopf for short, thus making the homes of viewers of western television easily recognizable. A campaign in the early 1960s by East Germany's state youth organisation FDJ aimed at turning away or removing such aerials exploited this fact.

Similar towers

Many other TV towers of similar design were built after 1958 in Germany and other European countries, including:

FM Radio

ProgramFrequencyERP
Bayern 190.7 MHz100 kW
Bayern 191.2 MHz20 kW
Bayern 2 Radio96.0 MHz100 kW
Bayern 399.4 MHz100 kW
DLF100.3 MHz100 kW
Bayern 4 Klassik102.3 MHz100 kW
Antenne Bayern103.2 MHz100 kW
B5 Aktuell107.1 MHz100 kW

Television (analogue, PAL standard)

shut down on 30 Nov 2008
ProgramFrequencyERP
ARD Ch E4 vertical50 kW

The public channels ZDF and Bayerisches Fernsehen for the region used to be transmitted from the nearby mountain Großer Waldstein.

Television (digital, [DVB-T] standard)

launched on 25 Nov 2008
ChannelFrequency
MultiplexProgramme im MultiplexERP
Antenna Diagram
rund /
gerichtet 		Polarisation
horizontal /
vertikal 		ModulationFECGuard IntervalBit Rate
E23490ZDFmobil-Bouquet
50NDH16-QAM2/31/413.47
E29538ARD Bouquet
  • Das Erste
  • arte
  • Phoenix
  • EinsPlus
    		• 100NDH16-QAM2/31/413.47
    E40626BR-Bouquet
  • Bayerisches Fernsehen
  • BR-alpha
  • MDR Fernsehen
  • hr-fernsehen
    		• 100NDH16-QAM2/31/413.47