Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk
Encyclopedia
Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (Northwest German Broadcasting - NWDR) was the organization responsible for public broadcasting
in the German
Länder
of Hamburg
, Lower Saxony
, Schleswig-Holstein
and North Rhine-Westphalia
from 22 September 1945 until 31 December 1955. Until 1954, it was also responsible for broadcasting in West Berlin
. NWDR was a founder member of the Consortium of public-law broadcasting institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany, the ARD
.
On 1 January 1956, NWDR was succeeded by Norddeutscher Rundfunk
(NDR) and Westdeutscher Rundfunk
(WDR).
's Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. A international broadcasting
radio program was aimed at the British Isles
. Its most famous broadcaster was "Lord Haw-Haw
" (William Joyce
, amongst others), broadcasting propaganda
intended to demoralise the British. The Reichssender Hamburg was the last short wave station in Germany. The substation in Flensburg
, now Reichssender Flensburg, broadcast the local cable radio
and had been on the air with the last OKW
news, the announcements of the headquarters of the German army. It announced the death of Adolf Hitler
to the German people on May 1, 1945.
and the occupation of Germany
.
In the British Zone of occupied Germany, the military authorities quickly established Radio Hamburg to provide information to the population of the area. On 4 May 1945, the programme started with "This is Radio Hamburg, a station of the Allied Military Government". The British
Control Commission appointed Hugh Greene
, on secondment from the BBC
, to manage the creation of public service broadcasting in their Zone. On 22 September 1945, Radio Hamburg became Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, the single broadcasting organisation of the British Zone.
politician. From 1951 to 1955 German writer and pioneer of the radio documentary
(feature), Ernst Schnabel
, was the director of NWDR.
At first, NWDR had just one radio station
, later known as NWDR1. In 1950, it introduced a regional station for the north, NWDR Nord (later to become NDR2), and a regional station for the west, NWDR West (later WDR2).
That same year, NWDR became a founding member of the ARD. The NWDR also played a founding role in launching 625-line
television
in Germany, starting broadcasts on 25 December 1952.
NWDR had been given the responsibility for broadcasting in West Berlin
, partially due to the main transmitter being located in the British Zone of the city. On 1 June 1954, Sender Freies Berlin
(SFB) was established and took over public broadcasting in West Berlin.
(NDR) in the north and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in North Rhine-Westphalia.
NDR continued to operate out of Hamburg, whilst the WDR was established in Cologne
. The split was effective from 1 January 1956, although the station NWDR1 remained a joint operation with regional opt-outs.
The NWDR television service also remained a joint operation, from 1 April 1956 under the name Nord- und Westdeutscher Rundfunkverband (North and West German Broadcasting Federation - NWRV). The NDR and the WDR launched separate television services for their area in 1961.
NWDR was also the most active participant in ARD Das Erste
, the joint German public television service.
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Länder
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
and North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
from 22 September 1945 until 31 December 1955. Until 1954, it was also responsible for broadcasting in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. NWDR was a founder member of the Consortium of public-law broadcasting institutions of the Federal Republic of Germany, the ARD
ARD (broadcaster)
ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
.
On 1 January 1956, NWDR was succeeded by Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
(NDR) and Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
(WDR).
Pre-war
Broadcasting in the NWDR's region began in 1924 in Hamburg, when the Nordische Rundfunk Aktien-Gesellschaft (NORAG) was created. The company began transmissions on 2 May 1924.Nazi Germany
In 1933, the company became the Norddeutscher Rundfunk GmbH and in 1934 it was incorporated, as the Reichssender Hamburg, into the national broadcasting organization Großdeutscher Rundfunk, controlled by Joseph GoebbelsJoseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
's Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. A international broadcasting
International broadcasting
International broadcasting is broadcasting that is deliberately aimed at a foreign, rather than a domestic, audience. It usually is broadcast by means of longwave, mediumwave, or shortwave radio, but in recent years has also used direct satellite broadcasting and the Internet as means of reaching...
radio program was aimed at the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. Its most famous broadcaster was "Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw was the nickname of several announcers on the English-language propaganda radio programme Germany Calling, broadcast by Nazi German radio to audiences in Great Britain on the medium wave station Reichssender Hamburg and by shortwave to the United States...
" (William Joyce
William Joyce
William Joyce , nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw, was an Irish-American fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was hanged for treason by the British as a result of his wartime activities, even though he had renounced his British nationality...
, amongst others), broadcasting propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
intended to demoralise the British. The Reichssender Hamburg was the last short wave station in Germany. The substation in Flensburg
Flensburg
Flensburg is an independent town in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg is the centre of the region of Southern Schleswig...
, now Reichssender Flensburg, broadcast the local cable radio
Cable radio
Cable radio or cable FM is a concept similar to that of cable television, bringing radio signals into homes and businesses via coaxial cable. It is generally used as cable TV was in its early days when it was "community antenna television", to enhance the quality of terrestrial radio signals that...
and had been on the air with the last OKW
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht was part of the command structure of the armed forces of Nazi Germany during World War II.- Genesis :...
news, the announcements of the headquarters of the German army. It announced the death of Adolf Hitler
Death of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler committed suicide by gunshot on Monday, 30 April 1945 in his Führerbunker in Berlin. His wife Eva , committed suicide with him by ingesting cyanide...
to the German people on May 1, 1945.
Post-war
Radio broadcasting was stopped at the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the occupation of Germany
Allied Control Council
The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in the German language as the Alliierter Kontrollrat and also referred to as the Four Powers , was a military occupation governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany after the end of World War II in Europe...
.
In the British Zone of occupied Germany, the military authorities quickly established Radio Hamburg to provide information to the population of the area. On 4 May 1945, the programme started with "This is Radio Hamburg, a station of the Allied Military Government". The British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Control Commission appointed Hugh Greene
Hugh Greene
Sir Hugh Carleton Greene KCMG, OBE was a British journalist and television executive. He was the Director-General of the BBC from 1960―1969, and is generally credited with modernising an organisation that had fallen behind in the wake of the launch of ITV in 1955.-Early life and work:Hugh was born...
, on secondment from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, to manage the creation of public service broadcasting in their Zone. On 22 September 1945, Radio Hamburg became Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, the single broadcasting organisation of the British Zone.
Länder control
In 1948, the Control Commission transferred the NWDR to the control of the constituent Länder, where it became an "Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts" - a public corporation. The first German General Manager was Adolf Grimme, an SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
politician. From 1951 to 1955 German writer and pioneer of the radio documentary
Radio documentary
A radio documentary or feature is a purely acoustic performance devoted to covering a particular topic in some depth, usually with a mixture of commentary and sound pictures. It is broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD...
(feature), Ernst Schnabel
Ernst Schnabel
Ernst Schnabel was a German writer and pioneer of the radio documentary . From 1951 to 1955 he was director of the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk ....
, was the director of NWDR.
At first, NWDR had just one radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
, later known as NWDR1. In 1950, it introduced a regional station for the north, NWDR Nord (later to become NDR2), and a regional station for the west, NWDR West (later WDR2).
That same year, NWDR became a founding member of the ARD. The NWDR also played a founding role in launching 625-line
Standard-definition television
Sorete-definition television is a television system that uses a resolution that is not considered to be either enhanced-definition television or high-definition television . The term is usually used in reference to digital television, in particular when broadcasting at the same resolution as...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in Germany, starting broadcasts on 25 December 1952.
NWDR had been given the responsibility for broadcasting in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, partially due to the main transmitter being located in the British Zone of the city. On 1 June 1954, Sender Freies Berlin
Sender Freies Berlin
Sender Freies Berlin was the ARD public radio and television service for West Berlin from 1 June 1954 until 1990 and for Berlin as a whole from German reunification until 30 April 2003...
(SFB) was established and took over public broadcasting in West Berlin.
Split
In February 1955, the Länder of the NWDR's area decided to look again at the regulation of broadcasting. North Rhine-Westphalia decided to establish its own broadcaster, whilst Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein continued with the existing system. To this end, the NWDR was split into two broadcasters - Norddeutscher RundfunkNorddeutscher Rundfunk
Norddeutscher Rundfunk is a public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR transmits for the German states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein...
(NDR) in the north and Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in North Rhine-Westphalia.
NDR continued to operate out of Hamburg, whilst the WDR was established in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. The split was effective from 1 January 1956, although the station NWDR1 remained a joint operation with regional opt-outs.
The NWDR television service also remained a joint operation, from 1 April 1956 under the name Nord- und Westdeutscher Rundfunkverband (North and West German Broadcasting Federation - NWRV). The NDR and the WDR launched separate television services for their area in 1961.
Stations
In 1955, the NWDR had three radio stations:- NWDR1 - a station for the whole NWDR area, broadcast over FM and mediumwaveMediumwaveMedium wave is the part of the medium frequency radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. For Europe the MW band ranges from 526.5 kHz to 1606.5 kHz...
. - NWDR2 (or NWDR North) - a regional station on FM for north Germany, broadcast from Hamburg.
- NWDR3 (or NWDR West) - a regional program on FM for North Rhine-Westphalia, broadcast from Cologne.
NWDR was also the most active participant in ARD Das Erste
Das Erste
Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen , marketed as Das Erste , is the principal publicly owned television channel in Germany...
, the joint German public television service.