About Hellweg Radio

Hellweg Radio

Hellweg Radio is the local radio for the Soest district in North Rhine-Westphalia: on air since 1 July 1990, broadcasting "Kulthits und das beste von heute" — cult hits and the best of today — to the Hellweg region between Dortmund and Paderborn. Named after the historic Hellweg trade route that runs through Soest — the medieval highway from the Rhine to the Weser that made Soest a proud Hanseatic city — the station transmits on four FM frequencies (100.9 MHz Soest/Möhnesee-Körbecke, 107.3 MHz Wickede, 103.6 MHz Lippstadt, 107.7 MHz Warstein-Belecke), on DAB+ since April 2026, via cable and livestream. Part of the Radio NRW network of NRW local stations, Hellweg Radio combines the network's framework programme with local news, service and reporting from the Soest district — and claims market leadership in its home district, the station the Hellweg listens to — the district's companion since 1 July 1990, on four frequencies and counting — the Hellweg's station, from Möhnesee to Warstein, from Lippstadt to Soest — the four frequencies, the one Hellweg, the district's station.

Overview

Hellweg Radio is the Kreis Soest member of North Rhine-Westphalia's unique two-pillar local-radio system: local stations that take the Radio NRW framework programme and fill it with local windows — local news, local topics, local voices. The model, invented for NRW in the 1980s, gives every district its own station with the economics of a network: the framework supplies the music, the national news and the stars; the local station supplies the district's own journalism — the NRW compromise that has kept local radio alive for 35 years — the two-pillar model as Germany's most successful local-radio experiment — the two pillars, the 45 stations, the Hellweg among them, since 1990 — the salt road's station, the district's voice, on every frequency that matters — 100.9, 107.3, 103.6, 107.7, and now DAB+ 11B, the Hellweg complete. The music promise is "Kulthits und das beste von heute": the cult hits of the past decades alongside the best current titles, aimed at the broad adult audience of the Hellweg region — the soundtrack of the Soest district's working day — the Kulthits for the commute, the best of today for the office — the Hellweg's working-day soundtrack, on 100.9 and its sisters. The station's coverage area spans the Soest district — from Soest itself via Werl, Wickede and Ense to Lippstadt, Warstein and Rüthen — the historic Hellweg corridor, from the Haarstrang to the Möhne — the district's geography, from the ridge to the reservoir, all on the Hellweg's frequencies — the Soest basin, the Lippstadt plain, the Warstein hills, one station.

Distribution: four FM transmitters — 100.9 MHz Möhnesee-Körbecke (Soest, Bad Sassendorf, Erwitte, Lippetal, Möhnesee, Werl, Welver), 107.3 MHz Wickede/Werler Stadtwald (Werl, Welver, Soest, Ense, Möhnesee, Wickede), 103.6 MHz Lippstadt (Lippstadt, Erwitte, Geseke, Anröchte, Rüthen) and 107.7 MHz Warstein-Belecke (Warstein, Rüthen, Anröchte) — plus cable (107.4 MHz), DAB+ since April 2026 (Region Südwestfalen/Dortmund, channel 11B), livestream and podcasts. The four-frequency network covers the district's geography: the Soest basin, the Lippstadt plain, the Warstein hills. The station reported market leadership in the Soest district in June 2023 — the district's most-listened station, by its own account — the market leadership the station has claimed and defended since the 2023 announcement — the Hellweg's most-listened voice, by its own measure.

History

Hellweg Radio went on air on 1 July 1990 — among the first generation of NRW local stations licensed under the state's landmark local-radio model, the two-pillar system that gave every district its own voice. The name honours the Hellweg, the medieval trade route from the Rhine to the Weser that made Soest a Hanseatic city — the "salt road" whose wealth built the town's churches and walls — the medieval highway as the station's namesake and the district's identity — the Hellweg as the brand, the history as the promise. For over three decades the station has served the Soest district with the NRW two-pillar formula: Radio NRW's state framework plus Hellweg's local windows — the district's news, the district's voices, the district's music taste — the Hellweg's local windows as the station's soul — the minutes each hour when the district hears itself. In April 2026 the station joined DAB+, extending its digital reach across Südwestfalen on the regional multiplex — the Hellweg on the digital dial — the medieval trade route's 21st-century frequency, on DAB+ channel 11B — the Hellweg, from the salt road to the digital multiplex. A change in the editor-in-chief was reported in June 2026, the station's leadership renewing itself for the next decades — the 2026 editor-in-chief change as the generational handover — the Hellweg's newsroom renewing itself for the digital decades.

Programming

The programme follows the Radio NRW model: the network's music and national content, interrupted by Hellweg Radio's local windows — local news, district reporting, service, events and topics from the Soest district. The local windows are the station's reason for being: the council decisions in Soest, the Schützenfeste in the villages, the Möhnesee leisure news, the Lippstadt business stories, the Warstein sports — the district's daily life, reported from the district — the Hellweg's journalists as the neighbours of their audience — the local reporters who shop where their listeners shop. The music is "Kulthits und das beste von heute": cult hits and current bests — the familiar and the new, the singalong and the discovery — the Kulthit promise, kept daily on the Hellweg's frequencies — the cult hits and the best of today, since 1 July 1990. The station also runs a family of web channels — genre streams from rock and oldies to 80s, 90s, 2000s, Schlager, hip-hop, dance, love songs and a Christmas channel — extending the brand into every listening situation, every decade, every mood — the web-channel family as the station's digital long tail, from the 80s to Christmas — the Hellweg's every mood, on demand. Podcasts make broadcast contributions and news available on demand.

Organization and Ownership

Hellweg Radio operates within North Rhine-Westphalia's local-radio system: a local operating company carrying the Radio NRW framework programme, with the standard NRW structure of a Veranstaltergemeinschaft (broadcasting association, the licence holder representing the district's social groups) and a Betriebsgesellschaft (operating company, the economic entity). The station is listed with AUDIOSERVICEplus, the Radio NRW service organization that supports the state's local stations. The two-pillar model is the legal expression of NRW's local-radio philosophy: the district's civil society holds the licence, the professionals run the station, the network supplies the framework — the NRW model's democratic architecture — the broadcasting association as the district's voice, the operating company as its engine. Detailed ownership figures are not publicly confirmed in the sources consulted.

Digital Presence

Hellweg Radio streams live at hellwegradio.de, offers podcasts of broadcast contributions and news, and runs an extensive family of web channels — from "Dein Rock Radio" to "Dein Weihnachts Radio" — covering genres, decades and moods. The DAB+ launch in April 2026 completed the digital distribution alongside FM, cable and stream: the Hellweg now on every platform, from the car radio to the smartphone — the medieval route's modern media, on FM, DAB+, cable and stream — the Hellweg, from the Hanseatic highway to the digital age. The station's social channels carry the local news and event tips that define its district identity — the district's noticeboard, on every screen — the Hellweg's news, from the FM dial to the Facebook feed — the district's daily briefing, wherever the district looks.