AFN Bremerhaven

AFN Bremerhaven was originally an "Armed Forces Radio and Television Service" (AFRTS) station.

[1] The radio station's mission was to provide information and entertainment to members of the American forces who were based in that part of northern Germany.

After World War II, the small north German US occupied area was originally known as the "Bremen Enclave",[2] and it was an "American island" located in the portion of the newly formed West Germany that was originally occupied and controlled by British forces, (The British Occupation Zone of West Germany).

However, throughout its entire 48 years of operation, many German employees worked with the US station staff members and were a vital part of AFN Bremerhaven's long and distinguished history.

Beginning in July 1978, the largest single AFN Bremerhaven target audience were members of the US Army's 2nd Armored Division (Forward) based on the newly constructed Lucius D. Clay Kaserne in Garlstedt, Germany.

With fewer US military personnel and their family members still stationed in northern Germany, the mission of AFN Bremerhaven gradually diminished, and, in the early 1990s, one-by-one, the six outlying AM and FM repeater radio transmitters were taken off-the-air as the various American military communities closed, and the once-US bases were returned to the host nation.

Finally, after 48 years of broadcasting, on 31 March 1993, with only radio service from the Bremerhaven AM and FM transmitters still being provided, AFN Bremerhaven made its last live broadcasts with a local morning show followed by an American Forces Network - Europe, network-wide radio show, and at noon, the AFN Bremerhaven affiliate officially went off the air forever after playing the national anthem of the United States of America by the late Whitney Houston & The Florida Orchestra followed by the German national anthem at the end.