''Landesfunkhaus Niedersachsen'' (

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

state broadcast station) is a group of buildings of the public broadcaster

Norddeutscher Rundfunk Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR; ''Northern German Broadcasting'') is a public broadcasting, public radio and television broadcaster, based in Hamburg. In addition to the city-state of Hamburg, NDR broadcasts for the German states of Lower Saxony, M ...

in Hanover, the state capital of Lower Saxony. The broadcaster is based in Hamburg, but has facilities in the capitals of other states that it serves. The ''Funkhaus'' is located on the

Maschsee , image = Maschsee Hannover.jpg , caption = Masch Lake as seen from the New Town Hall observation platform, about to its north , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Hanover, Lower Saxony , pushpin_map = Lower Saxony ...

at the . When it was built from 1949 to 1952, it was known as the ''Funkhaus Hannover'' (Broadcast station Hannover). It includes two halls for public concerts, ''Großer Sendesaal'' (1963) and ''Kleiner Sendesaal'', also administrative buildings and an

antenna tower Radio masts and towers are typically tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. There are two main types: guyed and self-supporting structures. They are among the tallest human-made ...

History

The history of broadcasting in Hanover dates back to 1924 when the first radio programs were aired from a factory building of the engineering firm

Hanomag Hanomag (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG, ) was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles in Hanover. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering numerous steam locomotives to Finland, Romania and B ...

. After World War II that building was in the British zone. A new office (''Rundfunkbüro'') was opened in the in 1945, and first concerts were aired from buildings of the ''Pädagogische Hochschule'' (

School of education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...

). Regular broadcasting, now by the

Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR; ''Northwest German Broadcasting'') was the organization responsible for public broadcasting in the German Länder of Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia from 22 September 1945 to ...

(NWDR) began in 1948, including symphony concerts and the series ''Funkbilder aus Niedersachsen'' (radio images from Lower Saxony), which began with the second Export-Messe. Plans for a new Funkhaus began end of 1948. Rudolf Hillebrecht, responsible for municipal building, voted for the location, to set an example for buildings along the lake. After a competition, designs by ,

Gerd Lichtenhahn Gerd Otto Lichtenhahn (15 January 1910 – 21 August 1964) was a German architect and member of the Association of German Architects (BDA). Life and realisations Born in Essen, Lichtenhahn was the son of the architect Karl August Lichtenhahn, w ...

and

Dieter Oesterlen Dieter Oesterlen (April 5, 1911 – April 6, 1994) was a German architect. He re-built the Leineschloss, the Marktkirche, and the opera house all in Hanover after the destruction of World War II. Oesterlen's father was the chief engineer of a t ...

were combined. The first buildings were completed in 1950, and inaugurated on 20 January 1951. Due to the advanced technical equipment of the complex, it was immediately called the most modern Funkhaus in Europe. In 1955 the NWDR was split in the NDR in Hamburg and the

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...

(WDR) in Cologne. A redaction team of the NDR was installed in the Funkhaus in 1958. Oesterlen designed the concert hall ''Großer Sendesaal'' which was built from 1960 to 1963. From 1 January 1981, the complex was called ''Landesfunkhaus Niedersachsen''. In 1989 it became a registered monument of the '' Denkmalschutz''.

Literature

* Waldemar R. Röhrbein (ed.): ''60 Jahre Rundfunk in Hannover. 1924-1984'', catalogue of the

Historisches Museum Hannover (german: Historisches Museum Hannover) is an historical museum situated in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The museum was founded in 1903 as the Homeland Museum of the City of Hanover (). Its collections are related to the histor ...

, 1984
Contents
* Wolfram Köhler (ed.): ''Das Funkhaus Hannover. Beiträge zur Geschichte des Rundfunks in Niedersachsen'', berücksichtigt auch Musiksendungen und Musikpflege des Senders und enthält ein Kapitel vom Rundfunkorchester, Hannover: Schlütersche Verlagsgesellschaft, 1987,
Contents
* Hans-Ulrich Wagner: ''Hamburgs "Kleines Haus": Das Funkhaus Hannover'', in Peter von Rüden (ed.): ''Die Geschichte des Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks'', vol. 1, 1st edition, Hamburg: Hoffmann und Campe, 2005, und

References

External links

* Niels Rasmussen

{{coord missing, Lower Saxony Norddeutscher Rundfunk 1950s architecture 1960s architecture Buildings and structures in Hanover Broadcasting in Germany Radio in Germany Mass media in Hanover Concert halls in Germany Tourist attractions in Hanover