Abstract

The Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft (RRG), the umbrella organization of German broadcasters, produced this promotional film in 1930 to showcase its traveling billboards—trucks emblazoned with the slogan “Werdet Rundfunkhörer” [become radio listeners] that toured the country to win new radio subscribers. Footage, captured from one of the trucks, showed tree-lined country roads and rural villages, where the vehicle’s arrival drew curious onlookers to hear the loudspeaker concerts and promotional lectures. One sequence featured a group of traveling Sinti whom the radio promoters met on the road and who seemed especially intrigued by the musical programming. Reception varied widely throughout Germany and remained unreliable in many regions in the early 1930s, which discouraged many rural residents from investing in a radio receiver and the required license to use it. Those license fees financed the programs and their broadcast signals, and the RRG set those fees at 2 marks per month in 1930, equivalent to roughly 1% of the standard monthly take-home pay for a skilled laborer at the time. On-air programs during the Weimar Republic featured a broad mix of musical genres, along with news, sports, lectures, and literary programs such as readings, comedies, and audio plays.

Film Advertising the German National Broadcasting Service (1930)

Source

Intertitles:
An advertising film produced by the Reichsrundfunkgesellschaft [National Broadcasting Company]
Two vehicles have been traveling throughout Germany for years, advertising for the radio.
Through western Germany
Through northern Germany
Through southern Germany
Stuck in the pouring rain
55 hp fail. A 2-horsepower engine fueled by oats pulls us out of the muck.
Technical preparations for the loudspeaker concert at noon: the antenna mast is cranked up.
The loudspeaker concert begins. Enthusiastic listeners.
An enthusiastic audience in the countryside.
Encounters on a country road. Gypsies at a loudspeaker concert. A herd of cows is attracted by our loudspeaker music.
After many years, the Black Forest is once again covered in deep snow.
In front of Um Cathedral.
In the Allgäu.
A promotional presentation will take place in the evening.
The audience for our promotional presentation is gathering.
BECOME RADIO SUBSCRIBERS
Only 2 Reichsmark per month. Register at any post office.
 

Source: Achtung, Achtung! Die Rundfunkwerbewagen kommen. Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, 1930. Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv Filmwerk ID: 26739. https://digitaler-lesesaal.bundesarchiv.de/video/20/665783

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