Field Trip 1: Bayerischer Rundfunk – Behind the Scenes of the Bavarian Broadcasting

Hey everyone! As I told you before, I will write some blog posts for my Professional Communication course at LMU. You might think that these posts might not be that interesting, but feel free to read them: you might be surprised, just as I was after our first field trip.😁

During our first field trip, we visited Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) in Munich, the public broadcasting service of Bavaria. When I first heard about BR, I didn’t know much about how it works and to be honest, I was not that interested. Our tour started in the historic main building, where we got a general introduction. I learned that BR is a public service broadcaster, which means it doesn’t make money from advertisements. Instead, every household in Germany pays a fee, which helps BR stay independent and focus on producing high-quality content. At first, this seemed strange to me, but later I understood why it is important.

Next, we went to the radio play studio, which was completely new for me. I had no idea that radio plays were made in such a detailed way. The team produces sounds to create realistic scenes, for example, they can make snow sounds by using small stones or simulate kitchen noises. It felt amazing to see how creative and precise the work is, even without any pictures. I also learned that the mimic influences the tonality of the voice, therefore the people, who are creating the radio play actually have to act, as if there was a camera and video content as well.

After that, we visited BR24, the news department. The guide explained that they produce news for radio, TV, and even short news clips displayed in the U-Bahn. We also went to Studio 1, a special studio built inside another room to prevent vibrations from the Hbf (Munich Central Station). I found this design very clever, even though the studio is no longer used because it is too old for today’s technology.

One of my favorite moments was at Bayern 1, where we watched a live radio broadcast. The presenter (Susanne Rohrer) was energetic and professional, and it was exciting to see how everything comes together in real time. I also learned that BR has a second studio ready to broadcast in case of emergencies, which shows how serious their public service mission is.

This field trip really surprised me. I never thought I would be interested in broadcasting, but seeing it in real life inspired me. In my home country, public broadcasting is not as common or independent, so I was impressed by the German model. After this trip, I even started to pay more attention to BR news. For example, I read the news on the screens in the U-Bahn to practice my German and to stay informed. This visit made me appreciate how much effort goes into keeping society informed every day. I really liked it and I hope that the other field trips will be just as interesting and informative as this one. But until then, stay tuned with my blog. Bis bald!👋

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