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RADIO FORUM REVIEW 2001 – 2007

THE YEAR 2001

March 9th – 11th, 2001 – The first meeting seminar for German-speaking radio editors from Romania and Hungary takes place in Timisoara on the initiative of the then ifa coordinator for Romania, Peter Kratzer. This is the birth of the radio forum. Further meetings will follow in Sibiu and Neumarkt, as well as a visit to the German editorial team of Radio Subotica/Serbia for the purpose of admission to the radio forum.

First meeting in Timisoara
– March 2001

Timisoara, the center of the region, is chosen as the coordination point for the project. Ingrid Schiffer from Radio Timisoara is responsible for project coordination. The Funkforum’s first joint broadcast will be broadcast in January 2002. The “Funkmagazin” consists of articles on current topics affecting the German minority and has since been produced monthly by the member editorial teams.

Through the Institute for Foreign Relations ifa, the Funkforum receives one-time equipment assistance for its member editorial offices in Pécs, Subotica, Bucharest, Târgu Mureș, Arad, Carei and Timișoara.

March 4th – 10th, 2002 – Radio meeting seminar of the radio forum in Fünfkirchen/Pécs in Hungary. For the first time, editors from the German-language program of Radio Subotica/Serbia are taking part. Participants: Urban Beckmann, ifa media coordinator for Poland, and an editor each from Radio Oppeln and „Schlesien Aktuell“/Poland. Advanced training seminar on the topic of “Structuring a program”, led by media trainer Volker Born.

Summer 2002 – One-week internship for Christian Erdei, employee of Radio Pécs, at the German editorial office of Radio Timisoara.

September 16, 2002 – Opening ceremony of the radio forum at the headquarters of the regional broadcaster Timisoara. Inauguration of the Funkforum coordination office. Taking part: Klaus-Peter Marte, Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Timisoara, Vice Consul Thomas Heilmaier, Ovidiu Ganţ, Undersecretary of State in the Minority Department of the Ministry of Public Information, Otto Heinek, Chairman of the State Self-Administration of the Hungarian Germans, Rudolf Weiss, Chairman of the German People’s Association from Serbia, representative of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Banat, Mihai Anghel, studio manager of the regional broadcaster Timisoara.

26 – 29 September 2002 – Radio meeting seminar of the Radio Forum in Bucharest. The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany invites you to a celebratory reception at the Goethe Institute. Participating: Albert Koncsek, Managing Director of the Hungarian German Self-Government. Advanced training seminar on the topic: „Focus points and concepts of the Radio Forum’s joint broadcasts“, led by Volker Born.

September 27, 2002 – The general meeting elects Ingrid Schiffer (Timisoara) as chairwoman and Robert Stein (Pécs) as vice-chairman of the association for a period of two years.

November 8, 2002 – Board meeting of the radio forum in Timisoara. Preparation of the business trip to Subotica/Serbia to hand over the equipment to the German-speaking editorial staff. Presentation of the radio forum website.

November 26, 2002 – Board meeting of the radio forum in Subotica. Handover of equipment assistance to the German-speaking editorial team.

January 1, 2003 – The Funkforum has been officially registered as a non-profit organization in Timisoara/Romania since January 2003.

March 5th – 9th, 2003 – Radio meeting seminar of the radio forum in Subotica/Serbia. Advanced training seminar on the topic: “The interview. Interview techniques”, led by media trainer Friedericke Stüven.

June 6, 2003 – Event of the first joint reading by German-speaking authors from Romania and Hungary, members of the Timisoara German-language literary circle “Die Stafette” and the Association of Hungarian-German Authors and Artists VUdAK in Timisoara. Publication of 200 CDs with the recorded texts, which will be distributed to libraries and schools with German as the language of instruction in the countries in which the radio forum is active.

June 7, 2003 – A colorful music afternoon for around 250 guests in the ballroom of the Adam Müller Guttenbrunn House in Timisoara with: Werner Salm, leader of the Original Kaiserstühler Musikanten and Charly, the singing host.

 2nd – 5th September 2003 – Business trip of the association’s chairwoman to Stuttgart, at the invitation of the board of the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the state of Baden-Württemberg. Birth of the pilot project „Break Radio“.

October 1st – 5th, 2003 – Radio encounter seminar of the Funkforum in Waschludt/Hungary. Training seminar on the topic: “Words that resonate. “Moderating and writing on radio,” led by Ramon Garcia-Ziemsen, media trainer and editor at Deutsche Welle.

December 3, 2003 – CD presentation “Contemporary German Literature from Romania and Hungary” in the House of Hungarian Germans in Budapest, at the invitation of the Association of Hungarian German Authors and Artists VUdAK. The CD contains all the texts presented from the cross-border reading by German-speaking authors from Romania and Hungary in June 2003 – as an audio file and Word document -, the authors‘ CVs and the history of the radio forum and is well suited for use in DaM and DaF lessons. The CD will be produced in a quantity of 200 copies.

2003 – New installation and expansion of the radio forum website. The radio forum is represented on the Internet at www.funkforum.net.

April 1, 2004 – The Radio Forum invites people to a ceremony in Timisoara to celebrate the association’s three-year anniversary. Participants include: Ovidiu Ganţ, Undersecretary of State in the Department for Interethnic Relations of the General Secretariat of the Government, Gabriel Auer and Paul Zerbe from the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Timisoara, Karl Singer, Chairman of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Banat, Nicolae Dolângă, Studio Manager of the Timisoara Regional Radio Station. The results of the three-year collaboration and the Radio Forum’s other projects and goals will be presented.

April 1st – April 4th, 2004 – The eighth radio forum meeting seminar takes place in Timisoara. Exchange with representatives of the German regional broadcaster R.TV Böblingen for the purpose of future program cooperation. Further training seminar on the topic: “Radio short contribution – structure and dramaturgy. Language and Presentation”, led by Gerhard Schröder, media trainer, editor at Deutschlandfunk.

May 5, 2004 – Under the motto “History live! The borders are falling! “Experience the EU’s eastward expansion up close” at the beginning of May 2004, on the initiative of the West-East Campaign, 25 young people from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania came together on the occasion of the EU’s eastward expansion and documented this historic moment in the history of Europe. On behalf of the Radio Forum, Astrid Weisz from Radio Timisoara accompanies the young people involved in this project on their project in Szeged/Hungary for two days and helps them create broadcast-ready radio reports. The radio forum contributes to publicizing the West-East Campaign initiative in its broadcasts.

July 23rd – 28th, 2004 – Alois Kommer from Radio Neumarkt is leading a radio workshop for young people in Dorna Watra on behalf of the radio forum. The workshop „Minorities FM“ is organized by the Dorna Watra Youth Forum with the aim of teaching young people the basics of radio journalism. The end result is the production of two programs in German, which will be broadcast by the local station Radio Dorna on July 19th and 21st respectively.

August 30th – September 12th, 2004 – The first training course in the field of break radio takes place for students at the Nikolaus Lenau Lyceum in Timisoara. The main focus is on basic knowledge of journalism and technology, developing a broadcasting schedule for the break radio, jingle production, and creating the first broadcasts. The training course is led by Ingrid Schiffer and Dieter Kron on behalf of the radio forum.

September 20, 2004 – The Break Radio pilot project, a joint initiative of the Funkforum and the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the state of Baden-Württemberg, is starting at the Nikolaus Lenau School in Timisoara. With the support of the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation, the school is getting a broadcasting station, the students are producing an in-school break radio and are being supervised in their radio journalism work by the editors of the Funkforum.

October 16, 2004 – Ceremonial handover of the transmitter station to the Nikolaus Lenau School Timisoara in the presence of the chairman of the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the State of Baden-Württemberg, Dr. Christian O. Steger, and managing director Eugen Christ. The youth band “Ricochee” from Sibiu will give a concert at the Nikolaus Lenau School in Timișoara to mark the ceremonial handover.

October 17, 2004 – In its program “Old and New Homes” on October 17, 2004, the WDR reported on the cross-border cooperation within the radio forum.

October 22-24, 2004 – Radio meeting seminar of the radio forum in Baja, Hungary. Participants: Christian Resing, press attaché of the German embassy in Budapest and Josef Manz, chairman of the Hungarian German self-government in Baja. Acceptance of d-funk, the only German-language broadcast from Croatia, into the radio forum. Since then, the association has been represented by a total of nine radio editorial offices in four countries in Central and Southeastern Europe.

October 23, 2004 – The general meeting elects Ingrid Schiffer (Timisoara) as chairwoman and Robert Stein (Pécs) as vice-chairman of the association for another two years.

December 2004 – As part of the “Break Radio” project, the Adam Müller Guttenbrunn School in Arad also receives a complete broadcasting station through the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the State of Baden-Württemberg.

2004 – In 2004, three members of the Funkforum were able to complete a three-week internship at Deutsche Welle, which gave them interesting and new insights into the working methods and processes of professional radio journalism.

2004 – Co-design of the CD-ROM “The Banat Germans before and after the fall of communism” for the “Banater Zeitung”.

2004 – Cooperation with the regional broadcaster Timisoara as part of the “Badea Cârţan” fundraising campaign, which results in a donation of books to German-speaking schools in the Timisoara and Arad districts.

2004 – The Funkforum receives unique equipment from the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the state of Baden-Württemberg to set up a training center for training in the area of ​​​​break radio.

March 10th – 13th, 2005 – As part of the “Break Radio” project, the first joint training for the 33 members of the student editorial teams from Timisoara and Arad takes place at the headquarters of the regional broadcaster Timisoara. Ingrid Schiffer and Dieter Kron lead the training on behalf of the Funkforum.

April 2005 – A website for Pausenradio was set up. Pausenradio can now be found on the Internet at: www.pausenradio.net.

April 21, 2005 – Under the motto “4 x Radio Forum. 4 years, 4 countries”, the Radio Association, together with the Democratic Forum of Germans in Timisoara, is inviting people to the FIRST GERMAN-LANGUAGE RADIO DAY in Timisoara. The occasion is the four-year anniversary of the Radio Forum, which has been represented in four countries in Central and Southeastern Europe since its expansion at the end of October 2004. The program highlights include: a ceremony in the ballroom of the Adam Müller Guttenbrunn House in Timisoara with the presentation of the results of the cooperation within the association and the ceremonial speeches by the guests of honor; the presentation of the “Pausenradio” pilot project initiated in 2004; the inauguration of the cross-border training center for German-language media; the presentation of the Pausenradio website; a meeting with members of the German-speaking and Austrian business clubs; a visit to the German State Theater in Timisoara; a celebratory dinner hosted by the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany in Timisoara. Participants: Ovidiu Ganţ, Member of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania, Gheorghe Ciuhandu, Mayor of the City of Timisoara, Mathias Kruse, Press Attache of the German Embassy in Bucharest, Christian Resing, Press Attache of the German Embassy in Budapest, Robert Schumacher, ifa Coordinator for Romania.

April 21-24, 2005 – The tenth radio meeting seminar of the radio forum takes place in Timisoara. Training on the topic: “Speaking on the radio”, led by Ramon Garcia-Ziemsen, media trainer and editor at Deutsche Welle.

July to September 2005 – The Funkforum arranges an internship with the German editorial team of Radio Neumarkt through the International Media Aid IMH. The internship is funded by a scholarship from the IMH and the European Union.

July 15 – 23, 2005 – The Funkforum organizes the first national training courses for a total of 25 students and teachers in the area of ​​break radio. The participants come from Timisoara, Arad, Sighisoara and Neumarkt. For this purpose, the Funkforum association provides the training center (recording devices, microphones, laptops) financed by the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the state of Baden-Württemberg. The radio seminar will take place in Timișoara and will be conducted by speakers from the Federal Republic of Germany (Albrecht Ackermann and Uwe Kaiser from the State Association for Cultural Youth Education). The best contributions from students and teachers can be heard at: http://www.pausenradio.net./

September 12, 2005 – The Adam Müller Guttenbrunn Lyceum in Arad goes on air. The AMG radio is the second school radio station to take part in the “Breaktime Radio” project, after the LL Team Radio in Timisoara.

October to December 2005 – The Funkforum arranges a second internship position for the German editorial team of Radio Neumarkt through the International Media Aid IMH. The internship is funded by a scholarship from the IMH and the European Union.

October 14th, 15th, 2005 – Release of a CD with the title: “Dialects in Focus” on the occasion of the symposium of the same name, organized by the Democratic Forum of Germans in Timisoara.

From October 15, 2005 – For the first time, the “Banater Zeitung” is organizing a seminar for young people in the areas of newspaper and radio journalism together with the Funkforum association. The project has a duration of two years.

October 16, 2005 – The Funkforum and three editorial teams are involved in a special broadcast for the European Radio Day by Deutschlandradio Kultur. The Funkforum editorial teams from Subotica in Serbia, Pécs in Hungary and Timisoara in Romania introduce themselves for 15 minutes each. There is also Poland with the German-language program from Opole. An event for and with: Radio Opole, Radio Pécs, Radio Subotica and Radio Timisoara.

November 2nd – 6th, 2005 – Radio meeting seminar of the radio forum in Vlasici/Croatia. Participants: Peter Kratzer, ifa coordinator in Vojvodina/Serbia and ifa assistant Gabriela Bogisic as well as Maria Benak from Radio Zrenjanin/Serbia. Training on the topic: „Constructed contribution, language and style“, led by Andreas Bock, ifa cultural officer in Budapest.

November 17th – 20th, 2005 – The radio forum is participating with two speakers in a radio workshop for beginners and advanced students (members and future members of the Pausenradio) in Wolkendorf, near Brasov/Romania. The radio association is making its training center available. Participants are students from Timisoara, Arad, Resita, Sighisoara and Egna. The training is organized by the Institute for Foreign Relations (ifa).

December 16th and 17th, 2005 – „Christmas 2005“ – Release of a CD with Christmas songs in German, Romanian and English, sung by the choir of the Nikolaus Lenau Lyceum in Timisoara. Sold by the Nikolaus Lenau School for charity.

December 2005 – The Joseph Haltrich Lyceum in Sighisoara/Romania receives financial support from the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the State of Baden-Württemberg through the Funkforum association for the purpose of purchasing a transmitter station as part of the “Pause Radio” project.

March 2nd, 2006 – The Sighisoara Joseph Haltrich-Lyceum goes on the air. After the LL team radio in Timișoara and the AMG radio in Arad, “Radio 1” is the third school radio involved in the “Break Radio” project and will be broadcast in the presence of the supporters and sponsors, the school management, the teachers , the radio forum and the Media ceremoniously inaugurated.

April 24, 2006 – A total of nine German-speaking radio editorial teams from Romania, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia, organized in the “Funkforum” association, as well as the Democratic Forum of Germans in Banat, invite you to the SECOND GERMAN- LANGUAGE RADIO DAY. The reason for this is the five-year anniversary of the radio forum and the 50th anniversary of the broadcast in German by Radio Temeswar. Program highlights include: a ceremony with 200 guests in the Adam-Müller-Guttenbrunn House in Timisoara and a celebration concert in the Timisoara State Opera with Werner Salm, leader of the Original Kaiserstuhl Musicians, the Timisoara Mischievous under the direction of Franz Hoffner and actor Alexander “Buju” Ternovits . The Funkforum celebrates the evening together with 500 listeners from all over Banat: from Arad, Resita, Sibiu, Semlak, Detta, Sibiu, Lugoj, Billed, Lowrin, Bokschan, Steierdorf, Caransebesch and Timisoara. Guests of honor of the SECOND GERMAN-LANGUAGE RADIO DAY are: Karl Singer, chairman of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Banat and co-organizer, Ovidiu Ganţ, deputy of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania, Zoltan Marossy, vice-prefect of the Timisoara district, Gheorghe Ciuhandu, mayor of the city of Timisoara, Hans-Jörg Neumann, Counselor at the German Embassy in Bucharest, Natascha Garloff-Jonkers, press officer at the German Embassy in Budapest, Rolf Maruhn, Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Timișoara, Peter Scratch, ifa coordinator in Vojvodina, Mihai Anghel, studio manager of Radio Timişoara.

23-25 ​​​​April 2006 – Editorial conference in Timisoara.

Since May 2006, Hannelore Neurohr, board member of the Funkforum, has been coordinating the “Pausenradio” project.

May 27, 2006 – The monthly youth wave on Radio Timisoara, made up exclusively of contributions from the Pausenradios in Timisoara, Arad and Sighisoara, can be heard on the Internet for the first time at www.pausenradio.net. Since then she has appeared on the website every month.

June 13, 2006 – The break radio of the Adam Müller Guttenbrunn Lyceum in Arad has its own website on the Internet at www.pausenradio.net.

June 27th – July 3rd, 2006 – The radio forum organizes the first cross-border training course in the field of break radio. This takes place in Lippa, Arad district, with 32 students and accompanying teachers from Timisoara, Arad and Sighisoara/Romania, Baja/Hungary, Osijek/Croatia and Ratibor/Poland. The main focus of the course is radio training and speech training. Speakers: Julia Bernstorf, editor and media trainer at Deutsche Welle, and Simon Schlingplässer, Bosch lecturer and speech trainer at the German drama department of the West University of Timisoara.

October 5th – 8th, 2006 – Radio Encounter Seminar of the Radio Forum in Bibione/Italy. Further training in the area of ​​speech training, led by Simon Schlingplässer, Boschlektor and speech teacher.

October 6, 2006 – The general meeting elects Adrian Ardelean (Timeșoara) as chairman and Robert Stein (Pécs) as vice-chairman of the association for a period of two years.

October 28, 2006 – Radio workshop for the new members of the Pausenradio in Timisoara led by Hannelore Neurohr. The radio association provides its training center. 8 students from the Nikolaus Lenau Lyceum Timisoara are taking part.

November 10, 2006 – Creation of the demo website for the break radio of the Joseph Haltrich Lyceum in Sighisoara/Romania at http://www.pausenradio.net/ .

November 2006 – The break radio in the Hungarian-German Education Center Baja/Hungary goes on air. Contributions from Baja will be included for the first time in the monthly youth wave on Radio Timisoara on November 25th.

December 2006 – The Diaconovici Tietz-Lyceum in Reschitza/Romania receives financial support from the Danube Swabian Cultural Foundation of the State of Baden-Württemberg via the Funkforum association in order to supplement the equipment of the existing broadcasting station as part of the “Pause Radio” project. DESA4D

February 2007 – A new member joins the existing radio break network. The fourth member is called „Radio Bastilia“ and can be heard in the Diaconovici Tietz Lyceum in Resita.

June 8, 2007 – The German Radio Forum celebrates its 6th birthday with the THIRD GERMAN-LANGUAGE RADIO DAY. The Radio Day is organized together with the Democratic Forum of Germans in Banat, DFDB, and begins in Timisoara’s Adam Müller-Guttenbrunn House with a live German broadcast on Radio Timisoara. Under the motto “I love listening to the radio,” radio stories from listeners were collected in the months of April and May and presented with awards for Radio Day. The Funkforum, with the support of its sponsors, will send 3 winners on a 5-day all-inclusive trip to Austria on June 27th, another winner will be rewarded with a weekend trip to the Danube Gorge near Orschowa at the end of June and two more winners will visit on June 29th European cultural capital Sibiu. At a reception given by the German Consulate on the Cathedral Square on the occasion of the THIRD GERMAN-LANGUAGE RADIO DAY, many prominent guests from Timisoara’s public and cultural life were welcomed on the occasion of the Radio Forum’s 6th birthday. Among them: Ovidiu Gant, DFDR representative and European Parliamentarian, Gheorghe Ciuhandu, mayor of the city of Timisoara, Zoltan Marossy, subprefect of the Timişoara district, Rolf Maruhn, consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Timisoara, Robert Schwartz, editorial director of the Romanian program of Deutsche Welle, Mihai Anghel , studio manager of Radio Timisoara, Karl Singer, chairman of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Banat and Stefan Bürgermayer and Zoltan Schmidt, vice-chairmen of the Association of Branau German Self-Government from Hungary. The radio competition continues in the evening under the motto “Typically German” and “Typically Radio”. In front of the magnificent backdrop of Timișoara Cathedral Square, on the stage of the “Timisoara – Little Vienna” festival, the joint closing event for the German Language Radio Day and the previous German Language Day of the German Cultural Center Timișoara will take place. Then the music bands come into play: “Äl Jawala” from Freiburg/Germany, whose concert performance was made possible by the Ministry of Science, Research and Art of the State of Baden-Württemberg – and to start with “Perfekkt Match” from Sibiu, their performance and the entire concert Concert logistics were supported by the Institute for Foreign Relations Stuttgart ifa. The concert will be broadcast live on Radio Timisoara between 10 p.m. and midnight.

September 2007 – The break radio of the „Sankta Anna“ school in Sanktanna, Arad county, goes on air. The network’s youngest team is working here. Students in the 7th and 8th grades produce programs in Romanian, German and English.

October 2007 – From October 18th to 21st, 2007, the Radio Forum, with the support of the Institute for Foreign Relations IFA Stuttgart, is holding the second cross-border training course in the field of German break radio. The venue is the Caritas House in Lippa, Arad district. 30 students and accompanying teachers from Timisoara, Arad, Sighisoara, Resita and Sanktanna / Romania as well as from Baja / Hungary took part. The radio training focuses on the workshops Interview led by Klaus Dahmann from Deutsche Welle and Reporting on the Radio led by Thomas Wagner from the Bodensee Radio Agency. On the last day of the seminar, the break radio people meet the members of the Radio Forum. A good opportunity to get to know each other and to inform the young people about German-language radio broadcasts in Romania, Hungary and Serbia.

The MedienForum has existed since 2008, where the FunkForum posts articles about its activities alongside other German-language media content.  You can also find older articles from before October 2016 in the  archive .