Radio DDR 1 was established in August 1953 when, as part of a reorganization of the broadcasting system, it joined the existing stations Deutschlandsender (part of Rundfunk der DDR since 1949) and Berliner Rundfunk (founded in 1946).
Following German reunification, Radio aktuell's frequencies were transferred to the new public-service broadcasting organizations Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (covering Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia) and Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg, and to the Hamburg-based Norddeutscher Rundfunk which took over as public-service broadcaster in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.