Funkhaus Vienna

Main entrance of the radio house on Argentinierstrasse

The Funkhaus Wien , also known as Funkhaus Argentinierstraße , is the broadcasting building of the ORF in Vienna and the oldest broadcasting house in Austria. It is located in the 4th district, Wieden , at Argentinierstraße 30a.

At the end of June 2016, the finance committee of the ORF Board of Trustees approved the sale of the property.

Facilities

Entrance to the radio culture house

The radio station of Vienna is the ORF regional studios that both Radio Wien , the ORF regional program of radio of Vienna and Vienna Today on ORF 2 radiates. In addition, the broadcasting operations of the Austria-wide cultural channel Ö1 and the youth channel FM4 are handled by Funkhaus Wien . Until 1996 the building was the location for the pop wave Ö3 and until 1982 housed the provincial studio Burgenland and until 2001 also Radio Niederösterreich , of which only one editing station is preserved in the building.

The building also housed the studios for Radio 1476 , which was broadcast on medium wave until the end of 2008. The Funkhaus is also home to the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and the ORF RadioKulturhaus, which opened in 1997 and where concerts take place and are recorded. Next to the broadcasting building is the RadioCafe , which ORF has leased to a private operator .

history

The building on Argentinierstrasse was built in the years 1935–1939, including older structures, according to plans by Heinrich Schmid and Hermann Aichinger and with the collaboration of Clemens Holzmeister on behalf of the ORF's predecessor, the state-owned RAVAG . What is noteworthy about the building is the fact that neither of the sound studios and neither of the two broadcasting rooms have a right-angled shape, but that they have unequal-sided squares as a floor plan to improve the acoustics . The multi-storey building, which has located the sound studios in the rear, borders the park of the Theresianum .

In January and February 1945 the building was bombed and the rear part of the building was severely damaged. On April 6, 1945, the last broadcast of the Reichsender Wien was broadcast. Since the Bisamberg transmitter was also blown up by the retreating SS , transmission operations could not begin immediately after the end of the war, despite the beginning of reconstruction. The radio house was in Soviet-occupied territory , but no station for the occupation was set up. For the time being, a temporary transmission mast was erected on the roof, which only had a transmission power of 30 watts , but could be expanded to 10 kW by the beginning of 1946. It was broadcast on medium wave and also on short wave .

1979–1983 an extension was added based on plans by Gustav Peichl .

In June 1988, the world's third fully digitized director's seat after the BBC and WDR was put into operation.

Studio 3 of the RadioKulturhaus (2017)

The Funkhaus Wien has been a listed building since 1999 .

In October 2015, the Funkhaus Wien was put up for sale in the course of consolidation measures by the ORF. The abandonment of the central location and the historic building as well as the relocation of the activities to the ORF-Zentrum Küniglberg , located on the periphery, met with resistance, especially from artists.

The sale was completed in June 2016 and the property was sold to the Rhomberg Group .

According to ORF information, the historic studios were not sold, but are still available to ORF.

The great broadcasting hall

Large broadcasting hall (2015)

From the large broadcasting hall, from which only individual live programs are broadcast today, programs that used to be known, such as Drivers on the Road or What's New? transferred by Heinz Conrads . Also Heinz Fischer-Karwin began his career here with the series from the castle and opera . The stage has been enlarged over time because it has to offer space for the organ as well as the radio symphony orchestra. Also noteworthy are the leather seats, which, unlike similar venues, cannot be folded down so as not to cause any additional noise.

Guided tours are held regularly in the building, during which one can visit the studio facilities, among other things.

literature

Bundesdenkmalamt (Ed.): Dehio manual . The art monuments of Austria. Department: Vienna. Volume 2: Wolfgang Czerny: II. To IX. and XX. District. Schroll, Vienna et al. 1993, ISBN 3-7031-0680-8 .
An illustrated book with photographs by Hertha Hurnaus, an essay by Ute Woltron and an introduction by Peter Stuiber. Funkhaus Vienna. A jewel on the pulse of the city . Müry Salzmann, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-99014-127-4 .
Alfred Driver (Author) Ö1 belongs to. The annotated success story of a radio station . Böhlau, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-205-77495-2 .