Sender Cologne-Raderthal

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The transmitter Cologne-Raderthal was a broadcasting station of the Westdeutsche Rundfunk AG ("WERAG", predecessor company of the WDR ) for medium wave broadcasting in Cologne-Raderthal . It was built in 1927 in what was then the Volkspark and operated until 1932.

History of the station

initial situation

Between October 1923 and September 1924, the German Reich was almost completely covered with a network of radio stations; on the other hand, during the Allied occupation of the Rhineland and Ruhr , the construction of German-language transmitters was prohibited there. To supply the Ruhr area, the first transmitter went on air in the unoccupied Münster on October 10, 1924 and after the end of the occupation of the Ruhr in the summer of 1925, two additional transmitters in Dortmund and Elberfeld , today a district of Wuppertal . The operator was Westdeutsche Funkstunde AG (WEFAG).

It was not until the British occupiers withdrew from the Cologne area in January 1926 that local transmitters could also be built in the Rhineland. On January 1, 1927, WEFAG relocated its headquarters from Münster to Cologne and at the same time renamed Westdeutsche Rundfunk AG (WERAG). As early as January 15, 1927, her new transmitter went on air in Langenberg (now a district of Velbert ). However, it turned out to be too weak to also supply Cologne, so that another transmitter was necessary.

Transmitter built in 1927

Former WERAG broadcasting house in Hitzelerstraße: main entrance
Hall and northern apartment
East side with the apartments
South side of the broadcasting house
Presentation as Monument of the Month in December 2018

The then Mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer , managed to bring the station to Cologne from among 94 applicant cities. On a cheaply acquired site on Hitzelerstraße at the western end of the Raderthaler Volkspark , WERAG began construction work for a one-story broadcasting house with a large machine hall and two official apartments on the side in May 1927, according to plans by the Cologne architect Theodor Willkens .

Not far from there, the Berlin company Hein, Lehmann & Co. erected two 80 m high support masts made of specially prepared pine wood at a distance of 140 m. The multi-wire, 6 m wide and 40 m long T antenna was stretched between the mast tops .

After a successful test broadcast on September 1, the Cologne transmitter officially went into operation on December 15, 1927 on "Welle 283" (1,060 kHz) with an output of 4 kW.

Dismantling of the technical transmission system in 1932

For a few years the Cologne station fulfilled its purpose. In the meantime, the output of the Langenberg transmitter has been increased to 60 kW and with it its range. Technological progress made the Cologne station superfluous, and broadcasting there ceased on March 14, 1932.

In July 1932 the dismantling of the technical transmission system including the transmission masts began in Cologne-Raderthal. It was overhauled and improved so that it can then be put back into operation in Hanover on a different wavelength and with a higher output.

Further use of the broadcasting house

The one-story broadcasting house with the attached apartments was retained and was used in different ways over the decades.

Around 1950, when the adjacent Volkspark settlement was built for members of the British Army on the Rhine , it was requisitioned, included in the settlement and used for events.

After the members of the army left, the broadcasting house was used by the city of Cologne, most recently as temporary accommodation. In 1997 it was placed under a preservation order, like the Volkspark estate before. In December 2018 it was presented to the public by the Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection (RVDL) as “Monument of the Month”. It is currently (2018) empty and in need of renovation.

A network "Radiomuseum ins Funkhaus", consisting of the Friends 'Association RadioMuseum Köln , the residents' initiative " Englische Siedlung " and various public figures, advocates the use of the former radio house by the RadioMuseum Köln. Different concept drafts were designed and presented by students of the architecture of the TH Köln .

literature

  • Andreas Brudnjak: The history of the German medium wave transmission systems from 1923 to 1945 . With a closer look at the antenna supports, arranged according to the nine broadcasting districts. 1st edition. Funk Verlag, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-939197-51-5 , p. 98-99, 115 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Fritz-Encke-Volkspark in Cologne-Raderthal - The historic Volkspark and its various areas of use. Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, archived from the original on February 4, 2010 ; accessed on August 14, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Josef Rosenzweig: Between Judenbüchel and Sauacker . In the south of Cologne on Bonner and Brühler Strasse. Heimatverein Raderthal, 1980, p. 200-203 .
  3. ↑ a b Invitation to the presentation “Monument of the Month December 2018”: Former WERAG's Cologne-Raderthal transmitter. (PDF; 294 KB) Rhenish Association for Monument Preservation and Landscape Protection, Cologne Regional Association, accessed on December 13, 2018 (with historical aerial photo).
  4. ↑ The old broadcasting house becomes the monument of the month . In: Kölnische Rundschau . December 27, 2018.
  5. ↑ The network. Network "Radiomuseum ins Funkhaus", accessed on September 2, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Joachim v. Geisau: Cologne initiative “Radiomuseum ins Funkhaus” . In: GFGF (Hrsg.): Funkgeschichte . No. 242 , December 2018.
  7. ↑ Sandra Milden: Media education in the old radio house - students show drafts for possible use of the building as a radio museum . In: Kölnische Rundschau . March 27, 2020.
  8. ^ Joachim Neubauer: New concepts for the old broadcasting house . In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger . April 1, 2020.

Coordinates: 50 ° 53 ′ 49.2 "  N , 6 ° 57 ′ 40.4"  E