Journalist Ralf Petrov: German editorial office of Radio Bulgaria is in my heart

The German-language programs of the foreign language section of the public radio, whose successor today is Radio Bulgaria, have a long history. They began to be broadcast on short waves on Radio Sofia as early as 1937. Until 1941, the German-language broadcasts did not differ in duration from the others in French, Italian, English and Esperanto, but by the middle of the year they began to dominate in duration. After the end of World War II, the German language was not among the broadcasts for abroad, but not for long. Over the years, the number of translators-speakers in the team changed, reaching 10-12 people in the heyday of the editorial office. One of them is journalist Ralf Petrov, who started work in the editorial office in 1987:

"A year before that, I was at the Humboldt University of Berlin on an exchange program with Sofia University, where I studied German philology. There were other Bulgarians there, including a lady who was already collaborating with the German editorial office. She recommended that I should call the radio station, which had a youth club,” Petrov recalls. “When I returned home, I contacted the editorial office and once a month I went to this club, where we discussed various youth topics in German. A year later, one of the editors in the German editorial office went to her wedding in Plovdiv, invited all the colleagues and it turned out that on the day of the wedding, there was no one to lead the evening news. Then they put their trust in me and this was my first real participation in the work of the editorial office."

Shortly after, Ralf officially became part of the team and thus the alternative of being sent somewhere in the country as a German language teacher did not happen. His professional path was forever linked to media although he has not been part of the German editorial team of Radio Bulgaria for decades.

These days, the German editorial team prepares a weekday online program "Bulgaria Today", in which the focus is on life in the country and presents various tourist destinations, as well as good Bulgarian music. Until 2012, however, the connection with the audience was mainly through shortwave radio and our interlocutor still remembers the program schedule according to which the editorial team worked:

"Back then there were two program blocks, one of which was evening and included news, political commentary, culture, tourism and folk music. Although we are talking about years before the democratic changes (i.e. before 1989), the team tried not to use excessive propaganda. It was even written on our door that these were shows for West Germany and Austria. Our focus was on Western Europe, as the idea was to show how well we live in the East. I dare say that what we broadcast was really interesting, with a focus on the history, culture, music of Bulgaria – things that interest people more than dry politics. Our goal was to present a Bulgaria that is interesting, despite the division of Europe."

The journalist says that he was impressed by the letters that the editorial office received and through them he learned that in the late 1980s there were still Germans who remained in the country after World War II, as well as people who liked the country, coming on vacation, and also loved Bulgarian folk music.

His obsession with staying informed about the latest trends in music turned Ralf into a fan of the iconic radio voices – music journalists Toma Sprostranov and Yordan Georgiev:

"From the first day in the radio, I was trembling in anticipation when I would be able to meet these people, because for me they were absolute idols. I was lucky that next to the studio where we recorded the German broadcast, there was a booth where the gramophone records were transferred to tapes."

One day, Toma Sprostranov asked him to hear if the lyrics of a song were suitable for broadcast and when he realized that Ralf was keenly interested in music, he started giving him records so that he could re-record them. Several times, he even replaced Sprostranov as the host of "Pulsirashti noti". After some time, he also met Yordan Georgiev, whom he also sometimes replaced on his music show.

Indirectly, thanks to them and a music magazine, Ralf also learned about a music forum being held in East Berlin in 1989, attended by major record labels and production companies. He managed to be among the journalists sent there by Bulgaria and this opened up an unexpected opportunity for him. The following year, he was invited to another similar fair in Cologne, where he was to speak about copyright in Eastern Europe. There, he came to the stand of the publishing house of famous music magazine PopCorn:

"I introduced myself to them at the stand, left a business card and after a few months they called me and said they were interested in starting a collaboration. This happened back in 1992, when I decided to leave the radio and get into private business. Together with my colleague Radoslav Dikov and friends from our youth, we created this magazine in Bulgaria, which gave us the opportunity to continue our contacts with the radio, as we wrote mainly about music and often appeared on music shows, providing a subscription as a prize in them."

The magazine existed until 1997, when after a short stay at the Bulgarian National Television, Ralf became part of the team of one of the most popular automotive magazines in the world, also published in Bulgarian. The media industry remains his destiny and he continues to position Bulgaria in the hearts of the European audience. And from the position of experience, his advice to the young is:

"The media teach us discipline, curiosity and interest in the world around us. It is indeed difficult for young people at the moment, but if one manages to discover the positive aspects of being together with like-minded people and colleagues with whom to have good time at work, I think the media are a very pleasant place. I wish success to the radio and the team, which will always remain in my heart, because I started from here."