The Volksempfänger was a range of radio receivers developed by engineer Otto Griessing at the request of Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. The purpose of the Volksempfänger-program was to make radio reception technology affordable to the general public. Joseph Goebbels realized the great propaganda potential of this relatively new medium and thus considered widespread availability of receivers highly important.
History
The original Volksempfänger VE301 model was presented on August 18, 1933, at the 10. Große Deutsche Funkausstellung in Berlin. The VE301 was available at a readily affordable price of 76 German Reichsmark, and a cheaper 35 Reichsmark model, the DKE38 fitted with a multisection tube, was also later produced, along with a series of other models under the Volksempfänger, Gemeinschaftsempfänger, KdF, DKE and other brands. The Volksempfänger was designed to be produced as cheaply as possible, as a consequence they generally lacked shortwave bands and did not follow the practice, common at the time, of marking the approximate dial positions of major European stations on its tuning scale. Only German and Austrian stations were marked and cheaper models only listed arbitrary numbers. Sensitivity was limited to reduce production costs further; so long as the set could receive Deutschlandsender and the local Reichssender, it was considered sensitive enough, although foreign stations could be received after dark with an external antenna, particularly as stations such as the BBC European service increased transmission power during the course of the war. Listening to foreign stations became a criminal offence in Nazi Germany when the war began, while in some occupied territories, such as Poland, all radio listening by non-German citizens was outlawed. Penalties ranged from fines and confiscation of radios to, particularly later in the war, sentencing to a concentration camp or capital punishment. Nevertheless, such clandestine listening was widespread in many Nazi-occupied countries and in Germany itself. The Germans also attempted radio jamming of some enemy stations with limited success.
Technical
First introduced in 1933, the Volksempfänger Model VE301 used a tuned radio frequency circuit, an economical radio receiver design common during the 1920s. The radio set was capable of reception on two bands: Langwelle from 150 to 350 kilohertz, and Mittelwelle from 550 to 1700 kilohertz. The glass tuning dial was imprinted with the names of German and Austrian cities corresponding to the frequencies of broadcast stations located in them. The set employed three vacuum tubes: RGN 1064, RES 164, and AF7. Three different VE301 models were produced to suit differing power supply requirements: batteries, alternating current mains, or direct current mains. Variations in AC line current were accommodated by moving a wire on the power transformer to select 110 volt, 130 volt, or 220 volt current. Three antenna jacks were provided for antennas of differing lengths, used to optimize reception on the different frequency bands. Volksempfänger models produced between 1933 and 1937 used an inexpensive metal reed type speaker. The 1938 models added an audio output transformer and featured a more modern electrodynamic loudspeaker.
Effects
Much has been said about the efficiency of the Volksempfänger as a propaganda tool. Most famously, Hitler's architect and Minister for Armaments and War Production, Albert Speer, said in his final speech at the Nuremberg trials:
Utility receiver
The Volksempfänger "people's radio" concept has been compared to the Utility Radio or "Civilian Receiver" produced by Britain between 1944 and 1945. Unlike the Volksempfänger, the Utility Radio was produced primarily to remedy a shortage of consumer radio sets caused by the British radio industry's switch from civilian to military radio production. These Utility Radios followed a standardized and government approved design, and were built by a consortium of manufacturers using standard components.
The album Radio-Activity, released in 1975, by German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk prominently features a Volksempfänger, of the DKE brand, on its cover.
German band has also produced a song entitled Volksempfänger VE-301, which first appeared on their Die Wunderwelt der Technik album of 2002.
While living in Berlin in the 1970s, the American artistEdward Kienholz produced a series of works entitled 'Volksempfänger', using old radios, which at the time could be purchased cheaply at Berlin flea markets, a consequence of the large numbers that had been produced in the pre-war years.
