The IFA ( ), or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin (International radio exhibition Berlin, a.k.a. 'Berlin Radio Show'), is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany. Between 1924 and 1939 it was an annual event, but from 1950 it was held every other year until 2005. Since then it has become an annual event again, held in September. Today it is one of the world's leading trade shows for

consumer electronics Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, Communication, communications, and recreation. Historically, these prod ...

and

home appliance A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation. The domestic application attached to ...

s. It offers the opportunity to exhibitors to present their latest products and developments to the general public. As a result of daily reporting in almost all the German media, the radio exhibition and the showcased technology receives a large amount of attention around the globe. In the course of its history, many world innovations were first seen at the exhibition. IFA is "Europe's biggest tech show". 245,000 visitors and 1,645 exhibitors attended IFA 2015.

History

German physicist and inventor

Manfred von Ardenne Manfred baron von Ardenne (; 20 January 190726 May 1997) was a German researcher, autodidact in applied physics, and an inventor. He took out approximately 600 patents in fields including electron microscopy, medical technology, nuclear techn ...

Ardenne gave the world's first public demonstration of a fully electronic television system using a

cathode ray tube A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, a ...

for both transmission (using flying-spot image scans, not a camera) and reception, at the 1931 show. In 1933 the Volksempfänger (VE 301 W), a

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

-sponsored radio receiver design, was introduced. Ordered by

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

, designed by Otto Griessing, sold by Gustav Seibt, it was presented at the tenth Berliner Funkausstellung on 18 August 1933, its price fixed at 76

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛ︁ℳ︁; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945, and in the American, British and French occupied zones of Germany, until 20 June 1948. The Reichsmark was then replace ...

(RM). 100,000 units were sold during the exhibition. In 1938 the DKE 38 (''Deutscher Kleinempfänger 38'', i.e. German miniature receiver 1938) followed, the price fixed at 35 RM.

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

, founded in 1883 by

Emil Rathenau Emil Moritz Rathenau (11 December 1838 – 20 June 1915) was a German entrepreneur, industrialist, mechanical engineer. He was a leading figure in the early European electrical industry and founder of AEG. Early life Rathenau was born i ...

, showed the first practical audio

tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present ...

, the

Magnetophon Magnetophon was the brand or model name of the pioneering reel-to-reel tape recorder developed by engineers of the German electronics company AEG in the 1930s, based on the magnetic tape invention by Fritz Pfleumer. AEG created the world's firs ...

K1, at the August 1935 show. In 1939 the exhibition was called ''Grosse Deutsche Funk- und Fernseh-Ausstellung'' (Great German Radio and Television Exhibition). The '' Einheits-Fernseh-Empfänger E1'', a TV set designed to be affordable for everybody, was introduced. Plans for large-scale manufacture were thwarted by the outbreak of World War II. Color TV was also introduced (a prototype), based on an invention by Werner Flechsig (cf.

shadow mask A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensional ...

). Multinational Dutch electronics corporation

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

introduced the

compact audio cassette The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company ...

medium for

audio storage Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...

and the first

cassette recorder A cassette deck is a type of tape machine for playing and recording audio cassettes that does not have a built-in power amplifier or speakers, and serves primarily as a transport. It can be a part of an automotive entertainment system, a part o ...

(the Philips EL3300), developed by ir.

Lou Ottens Lodewijk Frederik Ottens (21 June 1926 – 6 March 2021), known as Lou Ottens, was a Dutch engineer and inventor, best known as the inventor of the cassette tape, and for his work in helping to develop the compact disc. Ottens was employed by ...

and his team at the Philips factory in

Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...

, at the 1963 show, on Friday 30 August.Rewound. On its 50th birthday, the cassette tape is still rolling. Time Magazine, 12 August 2013, p. 56–57 Due to global pandemic, IFA Berlin was closed in 2020 and 2021. It was open again on September 2, 2022. File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00877, Berlin, Eröffnung der Funkausstellung.jpg, Main entrance and opening of exhibition in 1924 File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-00880, Berlin, Eröffnung der Funkausstellung.jpg, Radio shack of the ZR-3 (model) File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-08307, Berliner Funkausstellung, Riesenlautsprecher.jpg, Presentation of a big speaker in 1929 Huawei, IFA 2018, Berlin (P1070188).jpg,

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

booth (IFA 2018) LG, IFA 2018, Berlin ( 1070254).jpg, LG booth (IFA 2018) Hama, IFA 2018, Berlin (P1070207-edit).jpg,

Hama (company) Hama GmbH & Co KG is a German distributor of consumer electronics specialising in accessories. The company acts as a distributor of various product ranges in photo, video, audio, multimedia, computer and telecommunications. Hama employs aro ...

booth (IFA 2018)

Notes

External links

* *
Highlights of past exhibitions from 1926 to 2005
{{Authority control Trade fairs in Germany Economy of Berlin Consumer electronics Computer-related trade shows Recurring events established in 1924 1924 establishments in Germany

History

See also

Notes

External links