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Sitkūnai Radio Station

Sitkūnai, Lithuania
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P. Tautvydas Laurinaitis.

Sitkunai Radio Station is a large facility for medium-wave and short-wave broadcasting in Sitkunai, Lithuania. The decision to build a new transmitting centre near the village of Sitkunai, about 17 km north of Kaunas was made by the Government of Lithuania in 1937.

The building is typical of industrial functionalist architecture and other radio stations built in Europe during this period. The asymmetrical main facade, is a multi-volume building with a complex plan, curved corners of the surrounding side parts and massive vertical windows.

Two large decorative circles were placed on the sides of the stairs of the main entrance. At the front of the building a circular pool was placed for cooling the transmitter, which also served a decorative function: a fountain was installed in it. A large basement was designed under the building, with a boiler room on the right side, and a machine room with large water tanks under the main transmitter control room.

The radio station started to operate in 1939, and after the completion of construction, a 120 kW medium wave transmitter from Standard Telephones and Cables in the United Kingdom was ordered. However, the outbreak of World War II stopped the shipment. The empty transmitter buildings in Sitkunai survived the war with almost no damage and were used as a military compound by the German army from 1941-1944. After the war, the building was used as a primary school, then later it was decided to continue with its original function as a radio station when it completely closed in 2017.

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