Volksempfänger

The Volksempfänger (German: [ˈfɔlks.ɛmˌpfɛŋɐ], "people's

receiver") 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.

Contents Volksempfänger VE301 - The

distinctive bakelite cabinet was the
History work of the architect and industrial
Effects designer Walter Maria Kersting.

Utility receiver
In popular culture
See also
References
Sources
External links

History
The original Volksempfänger VE301[1] 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 (equivalent to two weeks' average salary), and a cheaper 35 Reichsmark model (which was
even sold on an installment plan [2]), the DKE38 (sometimes called Goebbels-Schnauze – "Goebbels'
snout" – by the general public) fitted with a multisection tube, was also later produced, along with a
series of other models under the Volksempfänger, Gemeinschaftsempfänger, KdF (Kraft durch Freude),
DKE (Deutscher Kleinempfänger) 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 [3] 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 (later in the war this prohibition was extended to a few
other occupied countries coupled with mass seizures of radio
sets[4]). 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 (particularly
later in the war) in Germany itself. The Germans also attempted
radio jamming of some enemy stations with limited success.

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 1936 Nazi propaganda poster,
promoting the use of the
speech at the Nuremberg trials:
Volksempfänger. The translated text
reads, "All of Germany hears the

“ Hitler's dictatorship differed in one

fundamental point from all its predecessors in
history. His was the first dictatorship in the
Führer with the People's Receiver."

present period of modern technical

development, a dictatorship which made the
complete use of all technical means for
domination of its own country. Through
technical devices like the radio and
loudspeaker, 80 million people were deprived
of independent thought. It was thereby
possible to subject them to the will of one
man...[5] ”
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.[6] 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.[7]

In popular culture
The album Radio-Activity, released in 1975, by German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk
prominently features a Volksempfänger, of the DKE brand (model 38), on its cover.
German band Welle: Erdball 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 artist Edward 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.

See also
Propaganda
Freedom of information
Censorship
Utility Radio
Volksflugzeug

References
1. "VE301" is an abbreviation where the "VE" stands for "Volksempfänger" and the "301"
refers to the date of 30 January 1933 – the day of the Machtergreifung.
2. Museum, Radio. "WW2 Radio Broadcasting in Germany" (http://www.radiomuseum.org/foru
m/ww2_radio_broadcasting_in_germany.html). www.radiomuseum.org.
3. Nelson, Phil. "German Volksempfaenger VE 301 Dyn Radio (1938)" (http://www.antiqueradi
o.org/VolksempfaengerVE301dyn.htm). www.antiqueradio.org.
4. "Hand in?" (http://www.verzetsmuseum.org/tweede-wereldoorlog/en/kingdomofthenetherlan
ds/thenetherlands,may_1943_-_may_1944/hand_in-). Verzetsmuseum.
5. Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks; Andrew D. Evans; William Bruce Wheeler; Julius Ruff (1 January
2014). Discovering the Western Past, Volume II: Since 1500 (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=bbwTCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT350). Cengage Learning. pp. 350–. ISBN 978-1-111-83717-
4.
6. Pauline Webb; Mark Suggitt (2000). Gadgets and necessities: an encyclopedia of
household innovations (https://books.google.com/books?id=uogUAQAAIAAJ). ABC-CLIO.
ISBN 978-1-57607-081-9.
7. Chas E. Miller (2000). Valve Radio and Audio Repair Handbook (https://books.google.com/b
ooks?id=_DJZf2P0gFoC&pg=PA144). Newnes. pp. 144–. ISBN 978-0-7506-3995-8.

Sources
Diller, Ansgar (1983). "Der Volksempfänger. Propaganda- und Wirtschaftsfaktor".
Mitteilungen des Studienkreises Rundfunk und Geschichte (in German). 9: 140–157.
Hensle, Michael P. (2003). Rundfunkverbrechen. Das Hören von "Feindsendern" im
Nationalsozialismus (in German). Berlin: Metropol. ISBN 3-936411-05-0.
König, Wolfgang (2003). "Der Volksempfänger und die Radioindustrie. Ein Beitrag zum
Verhältnis von Wirtschaft und Politik im Nationalsozialismus". Vierteljahreshefte für Sozial-
und Wirtschaftsgeschichte (in German). 90: 269–289.
König, Wolfgang (2003). "Mythen um den Volksempfänger. Revisionistische
Untersuchungen zur nationalsozialistischen Rundfunkpolitik". Technikgeschichte (in
German). 70: 73–102.
König, Wolfgang (2004). Volkswagen, Volksempfänger, Volksgemeinschaft. "Volksprodukte"
im Dritten Reich: Vom Scheitern einer nationalsozialistischen Konsumgesellschaft (in
German). Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh. ISBN 3-506-71733-2.
Latour, Conrad F. (1963). "Goebbels' "außerordentliche Rundfunkmaßnahmen" 1939–
1942". Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte (in German). 11: 418–435.
 Mühlenfeld, Daniel (2006). "Joseph Goebbels und die Grundlagen der NS-Rundfunkpolitik".
Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft (in German). 54: 442–467.
Schmidt, Uta C. (1999). "Der Volksempfänger. Tabernakel moderner Massenkultur". In
Marßolek, Inge; Saldern, Adelheid von (eds.). Radiozeiten. Herrschaft, Alltag, Gesellschaft
(1924–1960) (in German). Potsdam: Vlg. f. Berlin-Brandenburg. pp. 136–159. ISBN 3-
932981-44-8.
Steiner, Kilian J. L. (2005). Ortsempfänger, Volksfernseher und Optaphon. Entwicklung der
deutschen Radio- und Fernsehindustrie und das Unternehmen Loewe 1923–1962 (in
German). Essen: Klartext Vlg. ISBN 3-89861-492-1.

External links
Volksempfänger schematics, various models (https://web.archive.org/web/2006050623445
7/http://www.vcomp.co.uk/schematics/volksempfanger/volksempfanger.htm)
Radiomuseum Fürth (https://web.archive.org/web/20060820200648/http://www.rundfunkmu
seum.fuerth.de/english/index.htm)
Antique Radio (https://antiqueradio.org/VolksempfaengerVE301dyn.htm)
Transdiffusion Radiomusications (http://www.transdiffusion.org/2008/01/07/hitlers_radio)
"Hitlers Radio"
Volksempfängers, various models, pictures (http://www.imperatorrex.de/ve301.htm) "VE
301, DKE38, DAF 1011"
Gray and Black Radio Propaganda against Nazi Germany (http://nymas.ORG/radioproppap
er.htm) Extensively illustrated paper describes the Volksempfänger in the context of British
attempts to penetrate Germany's airwaves.

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