RIAS (Rundfunk Im amerikanischen Sektor) Berlin [souvenir photo album depicting the individuals such as President Kennedy, SDP leader Willy Brandt, Hans Carste, Gunther Arndt, as well as historical events witnessed by this iconic and unique radio station which would broadcast from behind the Iron Curtain for the duration of the Cold War.]

Berlin, West Germany: Broadcasting Service in the American Sector, ca. 1966]. Folio. 12.25 x 16.5 in. [58 pp (unpaginated).], on thick paper stock, creased hinges at gutter margin. With 73 silver gelatin photographs tipped-in, sized from 5 x 9.25 to 7.5 x 9.25 in., all tipped-in, some w/ stylish colour mylar borders below or above in geometric shapes, many w/ ink annotations of people depicted in the album (couple images w/ old tape residues at fore-edges), two brochures -- 1 for 10 important Western Germany writers, the other for the RIAS Symphony Youth orchestra laid-in and bound-in. Original quarter-blue calf over white linen post-binder, brass screw posts at gutter margin, RIAS radio station logo stamped in silver on front cover (chipping head & foot of spine, wear & creasing, minor soiling), some occasional edgewear, & minor lifting to a few of the images), still a VG- exemplar, w/ 2 pp. Typed radio release on U.S. Naval Radio Station, Carolina, P.R. letterhead entitled Holes in the Iron Curtain, w/ several corrections in ink. This unique souvenir photo album portrays the importance and vitality of the American effort to stem the cultural and military influence of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. This broadcast station broadcasting from West Berlin played a key role in the ideological war with the Soviets during the Cold War, and quickly became the most popular station in East Germany. This album includes photographs of Robert Lochner (1918-2003) who was head of the RIAS radio station during Kennedy’s famed visit to West Berlin and famously acted as Kennedy’s interpreter for his key speech “Ich bin ein Berliner;” Mahoney (1920-2014), a Washington Herald journalist who had directed the de-Nazification of the Bavarian press following World War II, and became deputy director in 1962; Hans Carste (1909-1971), German composer and conductor, who after being released by the Soviets in 1948, became the musical director and conductor for RIAS in Berlin; and Gunther Arndt (1907-1976), chroal director and radio producer from 1955-1972, conducting the famed Chamber Choir. Also included are photos of President John F. Kennedy, Vice-President Johnson in 1961, Willy Brandt (1913-1992), Heinrich Alberts (1915-1993), the Freedom Bell which was tolled every day at noon, and a Freiheit kennt keine Mauer (Freedom knows no Wall) protest on the West Berlin Side, RIAS anniversary celebrations in 1965 and 1966, as well as symphony and choral productions by RIAS. In 1994 following unification, the institution which had influenced so many lives, and broadcast for nearly half a century went silent after being absorbed into Deutsche Welle, who had inherited the RIAS-TV broadcast facilities in 1992.See: J. David Mecham, The Birth of Radio in the American Sector (RIAS) and its Role During the Berlin Blockade (2012); Stephen Kinszer, A Cold-War Voice Fades from the Berlin Airwaves, New York Times (1994); 60 Jahre RIAS, Deutschlandradio Kultur.