Radio is great for practicing your listening skills and training your ear to German, or any language. It’s also perfect for putting on in the background while you clean the house or are working. I’ve put together a collection of just some of the German language radio stations that are available for free streaming online: some are music radio stations, some are talk radio, some are news radio and some are sports radio. Find whatever suits you and your interests — and your skill level!
Just like with the online streaming TV, many of the radio stations offer apps for your smart phone or podcasts, so you can practice on the go at your own convenience.
Most of the the links below are just the top tier, meaning each has a variety of channels. For example, BR includes the stations Bayern 1, Bayern 2, Bayern 3, BR-Klassik, B5 Aktuell, ON3-Radio, Bayern Plus and B5 Plus. So it’s worth browsing around to see if each station has something of interest to you.
- 89.0 RTL – top 40
- Rock Antenne Hamburg
- BR
- DASDING
- Deutschlandfunk
- Klassik Radio
- NDR
- Radio 7
- Radio Bremen
- Radio Hamburg
- Radio-Heimatmelodie
- RBB
- Schlagerparadies
- SR
- WDR
- YouFM
While not exactly “radio,” Deutsche Welle offers slowly spoken German news that are available on their SoundCloud account.
My favorites are Alster Radio and BR’s B5 Aktuell. What German language radio stations do you like? Do you know of any I don’t have listed? Share them in the comments below!
