When the first Ilmenau students began broadcasting from a makeshift studio in the spring of 1950, the program was still modest: Five to ten-minute programs that were played over loudspeakers in the classrooms of the former Ilmenau engineering school during the breaks.
But soon the hsf - with loudspeakers on streets and squares - also conquered the audience outside the campus via the Ilmenau city radio station. In 1954, the first OB van went into operation, and the canteen in the Curiebau and later the Festhalle were also filled with a daily changing program that was pre-recorded the evening before: sports from the weekend on Mondays, culture and science on Tuesdays, politics on Wednesdays, current affairs on Thursdays, satire on Fridays and dance music on Saturdays.
Remaining independent was important to the Ilmenau radio station from the very beginning - and they succeeded: Despite repeated attempts by the university party and FDJ leadership to exert influence, the team saw itself as an independent group and continued to broadcast freely and uncensored.
Even though the 1960s brought setbacks and broadcasting came to a temporary standstill, giving up was not an option for the Ilmenau students. They managed to stay on air by installing diode sockets in the halls of residence themselves.
Surfing on ultra-short waves
A new era began in the 1990s. A loose circle of radio enthusiasts became a registered association, which was soon officially allowed to broadcast on FM. Radio hsf finally found its home in a studio in House L - with two modern broadcasting studios and a conference room from which campus life goes on air every day.Today, the program is more diverse than ever: in "morgengrauen", students accompany their listeners into the day with music and stories, while "infominutes" and "universum" provide compact information on current topics from the university and the city. In the "Ilmenau Sustainability Corner", sustainability is the topic every two weeks. In "International", international students take the microphone and contribute their perspectives from all’over the world, and in "VEB Musikelektronik", people experiment, mix and research the boundaries between technology and sound. When a wide variety of musical styles come together in the evening in "Mixtape" or "music", you can hear what Radio hsf is all’about: diversity, curiosity and passion for the medium.
The variety of topics has also grown over the years: From campus news, politics and culture to music programs and live reports, the radio accompanies the big and small stories of the TU Ilmenau - and the city, says Leonard Adam. The former hsf editorial manager has been an active member of Ilmenau’s student radio station since 2016 and continues to be involved in university radio at TU Ilmenau alongside his job:
’The highlight is of course the ISWIradio every two years, where we broadcast live for twenty-four hours over ten days. Not only from the studios, but also from the campus or the city center. The racing radio for the Gabelbach mountain race was also always a lot of fun. With rock music and broadcasts about motorsport.
Bridges between generations
That is why hsf is much more than just a campus radio station - it is a piece of living history that brings forth new voices, new ideas and new radio makers with every generation.Because whether it’s presenting, technology or editing: at Radio hsf, anyone with a passion for radio can take to the microphone or mixing desk themselves. Media students in particular take the opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge from lectures directly into practice and gain valuable radio experience during their studies. But if you look around the team, you will also find young people from other degree programs, from physics to computer science, who all’have one thing in common: Their passion for making radio and tinkering with technology. Many of them later find their way to major broadcasters - and, like Leonard Adam, know exactly where their passion for radio began.
For me, the hsf was an integral part of my student days in Ilmenau and is still with me today. From interviews to reports, broadcasts and board work, I have tried out and developed myself in all’areas. This ultimately opened the door for me to LandesWelle Thüringen, where I now work in radio.
To mark its 75th anniversary, the hsf team is therefore not only looking back into the archives, but also at eventful decades of radio history. In addition to exciting finds from the past, numerous "old radio people" will come together in Ilmenau to celebrate with the current editorial team and share memories, anecdotes and visions for the future at a history talk.
More about the birthday program
