A sort ofBut there are no astronauts there,” said the little girl with big eyes in front of Antenna 1. It would be nice if people in astronaut suits walked in front of huge antennas and parabolic mirrors. But this is surreal enough, because this one The scenery of the Bavarian picture book contrasts with the background in the science fiction movie. The father patiently explained that this antenna 1 had ensured that the TV screen of the moon landing in 1969 flashed in the German living room. “From the moon? She asked. “Does it really come directly from the moon?” “The radome, called Antenna 1 in Raisting, is after all the most important connection between Germany and the world. At that time, only the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia had such systems. We are talking about the era when the size of a computer is as large as a living room. An overseas call costs fifty marks per minute, and it only costs three marks to raise it. The lady in the office has retired.
“Antenna 1 achieved the first live TV transmission in 1965, replacing the submarine cable from Germany to overseas with 240 satellite telephone channels, taking the first step from the analog era to the digital era,” Radom Managing Director René Jakob explained the limited company.It makes this possible Neil Armstrong “Small steps” can also be seen in the Federal Republic of Germany.
This is not a love marriage
Astronauts and agents have never been in Raisting; no attempts to contact aliens, no James Bond Or other secret agent colleagues, despite Jacob’s restrictions: “At least the official did not conduct espionage.” Bad Aibling was ultimately responsible. The radio station there has been a large-scale interception base of the National Security Agency (NSA) for nearly 50 years since 1955, with as many as 1,800 employees. “The famous red phone also played a role. On the other hand, in Raisting, everything is related to public satellite transmission,” Jakob explained. For example, during the moon landing, Armstrong and his colleagues in Australia received these images and sent them via satellite to Leicester, from there to the Zugspitze, and finally to the living room in Germany.
Agricultural landscape with antennas: it is not painted green after all.
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Picture: Picture Alliance
Raisting as far south as possible, but far enough away from the high Alps to ensure the best reception. So the choice of location is no coincidence. Therefore, Pfaffenwinkel, an almost perfect piece of Upper Bavaria with a stable smell and 160 church towers protruding from the white-blue sky, came to its parabolic mirror. Some people suggest that the bowl should be painted green so that it does not stand out. However, in the public image, this idea is considered a joke on April Fool’s Day.
Of course, Raisting’s earth station still looks out of place today, but it also has its optical charm. At the time, the project was not accepted religiously, which could have been accepted in the corner of Catholic priests. Raistinger Albert Tafertshofer still remembers the original origin. In the early 1960s, his father was familiar with the earth station plan of the Reistingen City Council. “Of course this is not a love marriage,” Tafertshofer said. “The bride-raising-was not asked at first, and the groom-the Federal Post Office-hid his plan in the background.”
Then things are there
So rumors spread. The Second World War only lasted 16 years. Tafertshofer continued: “People worry that if the war breaks out again, Raisting may be bombed to disrupt the spread of news.” The Cold War raged, and the Berlin Wall was only recently built. But with the generous purchase of land at a very favorable price of 15 marks per square meter, the voice of opposition soon fell silent, especially because the room could also be rented out to future employees. Even the most famous opposition voice, the composer Karl Orff from nearby Dyson, eventually gave up.
