Blue Danube Network

The Blue Danube Network ( BDN ) was a soldier broadcaster that was operated from November 1945 to 1955 by the American occupying forces in post-war Austria. The station, which broadcasts exclusively in English, was located in Vienna until 1951 , then also in Salzburg . The intro read: “This is BDN, the Blue Danube Network. You are tuned to BDN, serving United States Forces in Austria. ” The broadcast time was from 6 am to 5 minutes after midnight, on Sunday it started at 7:30 am. Some programs were designed by AFN Frankfurt and AFN Munich , sports programs came directly from the USA .

Program plan from BDN / AFN, January 1948

BDN was also very popular with Austrian youth, not least because of the modern and varied music program. From 1946 Marcel Prawy could be heard as a German teacher for the GIs three times a week and, as part of this program, also taught them texts from well-known Viennese songs .

On August 28, 1955 at midnight, BDN Vienna ceased operations, while the Salzburgers held out until October 14 of the same year. The reason for this was the entry into force of the Austrian post-war state treaty, as a result of which the Allied troops withdrew and the US soldiers' clubs closed.

In the ten years of its existence, the BDN Radio and the clubs laid the foundation for the flourishing of the Austrian jazz scene. Namely Joe Zawinul , Hans Salomon , Viktor Plasil , Karl Drewo were figureheads. Her band, the Austrian All Stars, were voted one of the best jazz bands in the 1956 critics ranking by the US magazine Downbeat . In the wake of the loss of the US clubs and the BDN, jazz clarinetist Fatty George opened the first Viennese jazz club in October 1955.

BDN management staff:

1. 1945–46 Lt. Milton C. Shapp
2. 1946-48 cpt. Robert "Bob" Cranston
3. 1948–51 Lt. Erfurt / Col. Floyd W. Goates
4. 1951–54 Lt. Count A. Boepple (formerly with the FEN )
5. 1954–55 Lt. Edgar L. Tidwell (also from FEN)

BDN was founded by the 5th US Army that fought in Italy; and in 1955 the Southern European Network emerged from BDN in Italy (SEN, headquarters Livorno / Verona / 1967 Vicenza; from 1979 Southern European Broadcasting Service , SEB; from 1993 AFN South ).

The name inspired by at BDN was the Blue Danube Radio of the ORF , the opening of the United Nations headquarters was from 1979 to 2000 in English in Austria on the air.

Web links

• www.bluedanubenetwork.at
• dokufunk.org: 1945-1955 - Blue Danube Network, British Forces Broadcasting, BBC Europe

supporting documents

1. ^ The unofficial Jazz Academy , Andreas Felber in Der Standard from April 24, 2015, accessed April 30, 2015
2. ↑ Video: SEB 35th Anniversary Special, 1990