Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s public international broadcaster, marked its 65th anniversary in May.

DW was launched on 3 May 1953 with a speech by then Federal President Theodor Heuss who addressed the “dear listeners in faraway countries”. DW started broadcasting three hours a day on shortwave in German only. It added five-minute news bulletins in English, French, Spanish in October 1954 and gradually expanded its offer.

No longer just an international radio broadcaster DW is now a global multimedia network.

DW introduced television in 1992, DW TV is now available round-the-clock in four languages: German, English, Arabic (Middle East, North Africa and Europe) and Spanish (for Latin America).

DW offers a variety of audio content and publishes online news in 30 languages on dw.com. It is   seen as a trustworthy service, according to 96 per cent of its worldwide users.

In 1965 Deutsche Welle launched its Academy which has trained thousands of journalists from around the world.

Deutsche Welle’s 2017 budget was around €326m, from the federal tax budget.

DW says it employs some 3,400 people from 60 countries in Bonn and Berlin.

The Channel interviewed then DW DG Erik Bettermann in 2103 when DW marked its 60th anniversary.