After the Nazi’s took over Germany in 1933, they also took over the airwaves and controlled radio broadcasting throughout Germany. In order reach the most amount of people with the propaganda (although music and other popular things were broadcast as well), they manufactured an inexpensive radio that the population could afford. This was the VE301. The “VE” stood for Volksempfanger or “Peoples Radio, while the 301 designated the date the Nazi’s came into power, 30 January, 1933. There were three models, an AC version, the VE301W (W for Wechselstrom  or alternating current), the VE301GW (GW for Gleichstrom/Wechselstrom, meaning AC/DC) and the VE301B for Batterie or battery version. I have read that there were over 20+ manufacturers of the radio and the cabinet and chassis could not be changed except for putting the manufacturers name on it. The cost of the radio depending on the model was 65-75 Reichmarks or $26-$30 so as many people as possible could afford one.  Simple 3-tube design, receiving both “middle wave” or the AM band and long wave band which was really not used in the US but was in Europe. There was no short wave on any of the Nazi propaganda radio’s. For one, they would be able to hear foreign broadcasts which may interfere with the propaganda being sent over the airwaves and also I assume would have added complexity and cost to the radio. 

My wonderful daughter picked up a working VE301W while attending grad school in Germany and her roommate dropped it off to DHL to send to me. The issue is DHL in Germany is that when you drop off something to ship, that is exactly what they will do. There will be NO packing of any kind at all, just placed in a box and shipped. When it arrived, the bakelite cabinet was in pieces and the tubes where broken, not entirely, but pieces of glass rattle inside the tubes. The other issue was that the regenerative knob was broken as well as he 180pf variable capacitor to control regeneration. To replace all three tubes would cost $300-500 if I could find some ones that tested good somewhere or new old stock, not to mention the variable capacitor to control regeneration.  At least the rest of the chassis looks intact and back of the radio and the speaker survived. Pictures of the VE301W chassis below.

My wonderful daughter then found a replacement in Germany and brought it back in her luggage to keep it safe. The replacement is a VE301GW model which is the AC/DC version of the radio. At first glance the only issue was that the stem of the ON/OFF switch was broken off, but that can be overcome as long as the switch actually works, I’ll just leave it in the on position. Next, the VY1 rectifier tube was missing, I was able to find a new one on eBay. The VL1 tube was replaced by a 6G6 and he VC1 replaced with a 6K7. There also looks to be a large capacitor installed underneath the chassis, have to figure out that value. below are pictures of the VE301GW chassis.

Since I hate to go out and purchase a new set of tubes for the AC chassis when there is no guarantee the transformers and coils are good, the plan is to see if I can get the GW chassis running after replacing the wax/paper caps and jumpering in replacement caps for the capacitor block. If I can get the tubes to light up I’ll continue with a restoration, if not, I’ll put it back in the cabinet and leave it as a display model. If I can find a cheap set of tubes for the “w” model, I’ll try to restore it since it looks to be in OK shape. To be continued…………………………