The story
History
The company was established in Berlin on 15 May 1925 with a start capital of 100,000 Reichsmark as an umbrella organisation by nine regional broadcasters – that is to say, all of the German radio stations other than the Deutsche Stunde in Bayern – serving the various states of the Weimar Republic. 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.
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. In 1932 there were four million registered radio users giving the corporation a revenue of four million Reichsmark.
Original structure
Programming was provided by the following eleven regional broadcasting companies:
Funk-Stunde AG, Berlin: the first regular broadcaster in Germany (on the air since 28 October 1923), covering the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg, western Pomerania (Stettin) and the northern Province of Saxony (Magdeburg) as well as the eastern parts of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz On Air 29 October 1923 as the first Radio Station in Germany
Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk AG (MIRAG), Leipzig (on the air since 2 March 1924), covering the Saxony, Thuringia, and the southern part of the Prussian Province of Saxony (Halle)
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
Südwestdeutsche Rundfunkdienst AG (SÜWRAG), Frankfurt am Main (since 31 March 1924) in the People's State of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau
Read the full text
Nordische Rundfunk AG (NORAG), Hamburg (since 2 May 1924) and Bremen (on the air since 30 November 1924), covering the Prussian provinces of Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover, as well as the Free State of Brunswick, the Free State of Oldenburg and western Mecklenburg-Schwerin; became Norddeutsche Rundfunk GmbH in November 1932
Süddeutsche Rundfunk AG (SÜRAG), Stuttgart (on the air since 11 May 1924), covering Württemberg, Baden and the Prussian Province of Hohenzollern
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
Ostmarken Rundfunk AG (ORAG), Königsberg (on the air since 14 June 1924), covering the Prussian provinces of East Prussia and eastern Pomerania (Köslin), as well as the Free City of Danzig (see also Radio Königsberg)
Westdeutsche Funkstunde AG (WEFAG), Münster (on the air since 10 October 1924) in the Prussian Rhine Province and the Province of Westphalia, renamed Westdeutsche Rundfunk AG (WERAG) in 1926 and headquarters moved to Cologne)
Reichssender Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken (on the air since 1 March 1935) in the Saarland
Reichssender Wien, Vienna (on the air since 12 March 1938) in Austria
An additional nationwide programme known as the Deutschlandsender was broadcast on longwave from the Königs Wusterhausen radio transmitter of Deutsche Welle GmbH (a separate company which was, however, 70% owned by the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft).
Regular television programmes were transmitted from Berlin by the Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow.
From Wikipedia’s article on Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4