The beginnings of radio communication in Germany, 1897-1918

This article surveys the prehistory of broadcasting in the German Reich. It focuses on wireless telegraphy, where the Telefunken Company succeeded internationally with its quenched spark system on the eve of the war. Telefunken' s system was developed as an efficient military technology between 1905 and 1908, and it is soon became the core of Telefunken' s successful attempt to break Marconi' s monopoly in maritime radio communication. Encouraged by this success, Telefunken started to establish wireless transoceanic connections to build a global German radio network. The properties of radio broadcasting as a possible new mass medium only gradually became evident before 1918.