The Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG; Reich Broadcasting Corporation)[2] was a national network of German regional public radio and television broadcasting companies active from 1925 until 1945. RRG's broadcasts were receivable in all parts of Germany and were used extensively for Nazi propaganda after 1933.
The company was established in Berlin on 15 May 1925 with a start capital of 100,000 Reichsmark[1][4] as an umbrella organisation[4] by nine regional broadcasters – that is to say, all of the German radio stations other than the Deutsche Stunde in Bayern [5] – serving the various states of the Weimar Republic.[6] From 1926, a majority share was held by the state-owned Deutsche Reichspost authority, represented by RF engineer and Reichspostministerium official Hans Bredow as chairman in the rank of a Reichs-Rundfunk-Kommissar.[1]
The logo of the RRG was designed by German graphic designer Otto Firle.
An official broadcast receiving licence was required for the reception of radio broadcasts at a monthly fee of 2 Reichsmark.[7] In 1932 there were four million registered radio users[8]: 06:32 giving the corporation a revenue of four million Reichsmark [1]
Original structure
Programming was provided by the following eleven regional broadcasting companies:[6]
Deutsche Stunde in Bayern GmbH, Munich (on the air since 30 March 1924) in Bavaria; renamed Bayerischer Rundfunk GmbH on 1 January 1931, it joined the RRG in 1933 [1][9]
Schlesische Funkstunde AG (SFAG), Breslau (on the air since 26 May 1924) and Gleiwitz (from 1 November 1925), in the Prussian provinces of Lower and Upper Silesia[9]
On 22 January 1931 the Haus des Rundfunks ("House of Broadcasting"), on Masurenallee in Berlin-Westend, was inaugurated as the official seat of the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft. Designed in 1929 by the architect Hans Poelzig (1869-1936), it is the world's first self-contained broadcasting centre and includes a large concert hall.
The triangular-shaped building also housed the broadcaster Deutsche Welle GmbH and, from 1935 until its relocation in 1937, the Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow television station.
Nationalization
Adolf Hitler making his address to the nation at a Funk-Stunde microphone, following his appointment as Reich Chancellor in 1933
In the summer of 1932, the German government under Chancellor Franz von Papen started to gain control over the broadcasting companies of the RRG, full control over the corporation was reached in 1934.[6][10] The regional broadcasters were also made reliant on the RRG, becoming local branches.[11] The management board had to admit a representative, who supervised programming,[12] delegated by the Minister of the Interior, Wilhelm von Gayl.[1]
In the course of the Gleichschaltung process after the Machtergreifung in 1933 the RRG was nationalized by the Nazi government and was used extensively by the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels[11] to dictate radio programming.[13] On 30 January 1933, while the new Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick enforced the live broadcast of the torchlight parades, the RRG chairman Hans Bredow resigned and was replaced by Eugen Hadamovsky. Several former managers were arrested and imprisoned. With effect from 1 April 1934 the regional broadcasting companies were incorporated as Reichssender.
Upon the affiliation of the Saar territory in 1935, the regional broadcaster was incorporated as Reichssender Saarbrücken (see Saarländischer Rundfunk). Likewise, after the Austrian Anschluss in 1938, the former Radio Verkehrs AG at Vienna became the Reichssender Wien. On 1 January 1939 the RRG was renamed Großdeutscher Rundfunk.
After the Invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 upon the staged Gleiwitz incident, the former RRG became a vital instrument of wartime propaganda, especially by the daily Wehrmachtsbericht and the popular request show Wunschkonzert für die Wehrmacht (see Wunschkonzert). From 9 July 1940 onwards all Reichssender aired the same uniform nationwide program, which ended with the occupation of the Haus des Rundfunks by the Red Army during the Battle of Berlin on 2 May 1945.
Technical achievements
RRG engineers were responsible for important advances in sound-recording technology.
Walter Weber, while working for Hans Joachim von Braunmühl at the RRG, made many improvements in the field of magnetic tape sound recording. The most widely significant was the discovery of high frequency bias. This provided a major improvement in the fidelity of recordings.[14] Others made the same discovery of HF bias before and after, but it was Weber's work that became widely used.
