The Institute was named after the State Secretary and Commissioner for Broadcasting in the Ministry of Posts in the Weimar Republic, Hans Bredow (1879-1959). The pioneer of radio development in Germany, who was banned from working during the National Socialist era, was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his services in the organization of post-war broadcasting.
| 1879 | born on November 26 in Schlawe (Pomerania) |
| 1900 | begins his studies in electrical engineering in Cöthen (Anhalt) |
| 1908 | executive director of the “Gesellschaft für drahtlose Telegraphie m.b.H. [The Company for Wireless Telegraphy Ltd.]” (Telefunken) in Berlin |
| 1919 | head of department and director of the newly-founded Department for Wireless Telegraphy in the Ministry of Posts in the Weimar Republic, central authority for the entire German radio communications in Berlin |
| 1926 | commissioner for Broadcasting in the Ministry of Posts, chairman of the administrative board of the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft [Reich Broadcasting Corporation] (R.R.G.), umbrella organisation of broadcasting companies |
| 1933 | Bredow requests for permission to resign on January 30; on Oktober 25 the 15-months-period of his pretrial detention begins |
| 1934 | the show trial by the Nazis against Bredow on November 5 Start for suspected corruption begins: first he was sentenced, then his case was dismissed in March 1938 |
| 1937-1945 | work-ban, retires in 1939, establishes a historical radio archive in Wiesbaden |
| 1945 | district president of Hesse-Nassau in Wiesbaden, May to September |
| 1945-1953 | chairman of the supervisory board of the Buderus’sche Eisenwerke und Edelstahlwerke Röchling-Buderus ; supervisory board member of the Philipp Holzmann-AG |
| 1946 | proposal for restructuring of broadcasting |
| 1947 | memorandum “Draft of a Broadcasting Act” |
| 1949-1951 | chairman of the administrative board of the Hessian Broadcasting Company |
| 1954 | awarded the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany |
| 1959 | died on January 9 in Wiesbaden |