We're probably not the first people to tell you this, but today marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. November 9, 1989 was one of those truly historic days that simultaneously signalled the end to an era, and spearheaded the beginning of a new one. Since this watershed moment, Europe has loosened its national borders, and, with the searing memories of WWII still fresh in the collective European conscience, has gradually coalesced into a more unified and powerful cross-national alliance. But no other country, of course, was as drastically altered by the fall of the wall than Germany, which saw its Western and Eastern citizenry finally reunited as the last embers of Communist rule dramatically died away.
We won't spend too much time memorializing or waxing poetic about the event-we're sure you'll be inundated with that from the rest of the media, anyway. But, in recognition of the moment and its anniversary today, we've gone ahead and put together a rundown of the top five German radio stations currently playing on the SHOUTCast Radio Directory. The music pretty much runs the genre gamut, and is wildly varied across and even within certain stations. But, at the end of the day, it's still all German. And that's something that, 20 years later, we shouldn't take for granted.
Here are the top five German stations available in the SHOUTcast Radio Directory. To listen to these stations and more, find them in the German genre.
Top 5 German Radio Stations
5) VEEDELSRADIO
This station gives some insight into just how eclectic contemporary German tastes can be. A quick glance at their playlist at any given moment would reveal everything from Billy Idol to Lady Gaga to the Righteous Brothers. There are also a few German tracks thrown in there, lest anyone forget they're listening to a German station.
They specialize, according to their slogan, in "Young Music and More." You kinda get the idea. Lots of uptempo pop and top 40, with a tad of electronica and dance music. While we're on it, if there's one thing that unified Europe even more than the fall of the wall did, it's gotta be dance music, right? We don't have any proof of this. But seriously...
Although you might guess from the title, this station loves them some oldies... although it's not exactly clear what they mean by "Oldie." By way of example... their artist listings under the "D" category include Def Leppard, and Doris Day. We rest our case.
Germany isn't exactly synonymous with R&B in most people's minds. But apparently, it's pretty popular over there, as this station can attest to. Tune in to hear the staples making their rounds on US or UK playlists, as well as some throwbacks to the last decade... or some that sound like they're from the last decade.
The self-proclaimed "#1 Hit Web Station" is just that. A bona fide hit machine... sorta. They play the usuals, like Lady GaGa and Lily Allen... and then every now and then you'll stumble upon Warren G & Nate Dogg, sitting next to Miley Cyrus. Like most of these stations, listening to Top 100 is almost like living through a dream, where random figures from disparate parts of your life are all in the same room. Eating soup. Or something. It may be weird at times. But also loads of fun.
