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Introduction

Introduction

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Telling tales

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Third Reich television titles

As the world was descending into war in 1935, German television viewers were treated to uplifting gardening, cooking and fitness programmes, fly-on-the-wall documentaries, celebrity interviews and current affairs reports to tempt comparison with the current diet of UK daytime television.

Beating the UK and US in the TV race, its party-approved coverage, compiled in a tiny studio in Berlin, reflects everyday life in Nazi Germany, now a droll mixture of hidden propaganda and couch-potato TV. Legions of people perform fitness routines in unison and so-called anthropological experiments demonstrate Aryan superiority.

To the Nazis' annoyance at the low viewing figures for the Reich Party Congress in Nuremberg, it was the 1936 Summer Olympic Games that achieved the breakthrough among the general public, massed at 20 new television parlours installed for the big event.

The aim was for all Germans to have their own Volks-TV to witness the wonders of the National Socialist world but with the outbreak of war money was redirected to the arms programme. TV turned to practical tips and feel-good shows to prevent demoralisation among the troops.

As bombing raids on Germany became more frequent, the national radio and television organisation ceased operation in 1944.

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