Founding History: How the Institute Got Its Name

Seventy-five years ago, on May 30, 1950, the Hans-Bredow-Institut was founded by the former Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation (the predecessor of NDR and WDR) and Universität Hamburg. This blog post recounts the events surrounding the institute’s establishment and sheds light on the origin of its name.

By Hans-Ulrich Wagner.

The minutes are short and concise. On August 13, 1948, Professor Emil Dovifat, doyen of newspaper research since the 1930s and pioneer of the discipline of journalism, suggested the name ‘Hans Bredow’ in his capacity as a specialist at the University of Berlin and as a member of the administrative board of the newly founded public Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation (NWDR).

The name for the planned “Institute for Broadcasting Research” in Hamburg was uncontroversial from the beginning. Hans Bredow (1879-1959), who had played a decisive role in shaping the organization of broadcasting until the Nazis came to power, was celebrated in the post-war years as the “father of broadcasting.”Radio broadcasting began in Germany in October 1923, and in 1948, the 25th anniversary was celebrated with great fanfare, with the former state secretary, who had been forced out of office by the Nazi regime, being hailed as the “pacesetter of German broadcasting.”

However, virtually all other issues are contentious. Much remains to be clarified before Universität Hamburg and NWDR can establish the Hans-Bredow-Institut as a foundation under public law in May 1950. This is because the two organisations initially had conflicting interests. Universität Hamburg reopened in the winter semester of 1945/46. The continuity of the journalism institute during the Third Reich had been severed. Hans Wenke, an energetic professor of education appointed to the Faculty of Philosophy in spring 1947, set about establishing the field of media studies. He gave a lecture on “Young Academics and Academic Training for Broadcasting” to the cultural policy committee of the Zone Advisory Council, offering his “Broadcasting Working Group at Universität Hamburg”, which he had already established at the university.

Northwest German Broadcasting, the central broadcaster in the British occupation zone, which was taking on an ever-increasing range of programming tasks, initially had different interests. Following the closure of the ‘NWDR Broadcasting School’, the question of further academic training for young journalists arose. Furthermore, those responsible for programming wanted to build on the NWDR’s offerings based on research results. Until then, there had only been tentative attempts at systematic audience research, and questions about a possible television program were already pressing.

Negotiations on the financial resources, composition and chairmanship of the board of trustees took many months. Although the NWDR provided the economic foundation, Universität Hamburg wanted to exert decisive influence over the “affiliated institute.” It was not until the 23rd meeting in February 1950 that an agreement was reached. “The Administrative Board approves the Board of Trustees of the Bredow Institute, which now consists of seven members: three NWDR representatives, three university representatives including the rector as chairman, and one higher education department representative from the school administration.” On May 30, 1950, the foundation with legal capacity was established with the “intention of promoting scientific research into the problems of radio and television.”Section 1, paragraph 1 of the statutes states: “In honor of the pioneer of German broadcasting, the foundation bears the name ‘Hans-Bredow-Institut for Radio and Television at Universität Hamburg’.”

Image: Former State Secretary Dr. h. c. Hans Bredow (center) with Dr. Werner Nestel, Technical Director of NWDR (left), and Professor Dr. Hans Wenke, Universität Hamburg (right), shortly before a lecture by Hans Bredow to the Working Group for Broadcasting Studies at Universtität Hamburg in 1948. (Photo: DPD).