Hitler's private world: Revealed - Tape recording

[tis your junk]

Hi all,
During the subject program shown on Ch5 at 2000hrs on the 24July, it was stated that a TAPE recording of Hitler was made by the Finnish (I think) state broadcasting company, which from the historical view was a great find but what machine would it have been recorded on? The reconstruction used in the program showed a more modern machine, with plastic spools, which I do not think could be right! Anyone any ideas? or further info on this?

The voice recognition software demonstrated on the program was very impressive and I hope it gets applied to other film clips, it would be interesting to hear what politicians really say to one another!
Thanks

TYJ

[reel-to-reel-man]

The only recorders available at the time where the Tonschreiber machines, the first types, AEG K-1 where mainly used in radio stations, the military version may have been the one used to do the recordings, this was called the Tonschreiber Ton S.b1
http://www.vintagerecorders.co.uk/images/full/ton01.gif

This is one of my recorders and it has eagle military mark on it dating from 1939 to 1944

See thi link for more info

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=16501

[tis your junk]

Hi Reel to reel man,

I knew about the Tonschreiber (and that you have one - lucky man), the implication being that if these where the only machine available then they MUST have been supplied to the broadcasting stations of the occupied counties - where they that common? and was that indeed the case?

Can anyone shed any more light on this?

TYJ

[Chris_C]

In a different programme this week on National Geographic (I think, could have been the history channel), some of the still photos showed an AEG machine. I can't speak for the accuracy of the film makers though, it may have been 'stock shots'. The film of the original tape box was labelled AEG Magnetophon.

The tape was played back for the programme on Studer machines.

Both programmes were very interesting.

Cheers

[reel-to-reel-man]

This was the second generation, the K-1

http://www.stefanopasini.it/AEG%20Magnetophon.htm

There is a K-0 but that was not sold

Here is a good site about the early recorders

http://www.useddlt.com/historie1.0.html


you may need www.freetranslation.com to read it though.

There was two formats before this though they were both steel recorders, one was the steel wire recorder and the other was the steel tape recorder or the Blattnerphone

http://www.vintagerecorders.co.uk/se..._Hand_Book.jpg

[flywheel]

Originally Posted by tis your junk

Hi all,
During the subject program shown on Ch5 at 2000hrs on the 24July, it was stated that a TAPE recording of Hitler was made by the Finnish (I think) state broadcasting company, which from the historical view was a great find but what machine would it have been recorded on? The reconstruction used in the program showed a more modern machine, with plastic spools, which I do not think could be right! Anyone any ideas? or further info on this?
TYJ

This seemed a bit dubious to me - not only do we have the question of what tape machine the Finnish secret service (not, if I recall the programme correctly, their state broadcasting organisation) were using, but it was said the recording was interrupted by German security personnel. Now, surely they would have then confiscated the tape, or destroyed it on the spot?

I need more persuading this was not a hoax...

[brenellic2000]

As Stuart rightly says, if it was magnetic oxide coated plastic tape then it would most probably have been the AEG-Magnetophon, commonly described as a Tonschrieber (soundwriter), but there were other more compact German made machines available at the time and widely used for clandestine work, more usually wire recorders of either steel band or wire. Many broadcasting studios used direct cut gramophone discs of very high quality.

The advantage that magnetic tape gave was that a German Sensor would record the speech 'live', edit out any dissent (an shoot the poor sod) and then broadcast the speech, as if it was live, a matter of second later!

Valdemar Poulsen, the father of tape recording was in the Danish underground - they transmitted high speed morse code messages to Britian by punched-tape, electronically, which confused the Germans as they didn't believe the Danes had the advanced German tape technology!

Just thought I'd mention it in passing through..........!

TTFN
Barry

[tis your junk]

Thanks for all your thoughts my research has found the following

The url

http://www.ufoinfo.com/roundup/v09/rnd0943.shtml

Quotes
The Finnish Broadcasting Company aired a recording Sunday night" in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The 11-minute audio tape had "the Nazi leader talking to the commander of the Finnish defense forces," Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Freiherr (Baron) von Mannerheim.

The tape was made during Hitler's surprise visit to Finland in 1942. At the time, Germany sided with Helsinki against the Soviet Union (1922-1991). The conversation took place in a railway car near the Russian border.
unquote

http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld4157.txt

Quote
The tape, mostly a rambling monologue by the Nazi dictator, gives a rare glimpse into Hitler`s personality, since he had forbidden any recordings of his private conversations.

The tape was made by YLE sound engineer Thor Damen, who was responsible for recording the speeches at Mannerheim`s birthday party.

Unbeknownst to both the Finnish marshal and Hitler, Damen continued to tape their private conversation after the official part of the program was over, Vihonen said.

``When the German security officers found out, it really became a scene, with them threatening to kill Damen and ordering him to destroy the tape,`` he said.

``YLE was however allowed to keep the reel after promising to keep it in a sealed container,`` Vihonen added, pointing to a cardboard box with the remains of several red wax seals on it.


Unquote


And for those of you that have read this far YLE is the state radio here:-
http://www.yle.fi/fbc/index.shtml

With more here

http://www.fpp.co.uk/Hitler/docs/Man...ng_040642.html

However that does not solve the "what was it recorded on" question -but this might! this url

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums...p/t-24880.html
Has

quote
As for the Finnish sound technician recording this moment of private conversation by Hitler, the SS security detail in fact discovered the microphone (or rather the cable connecting it to the recorder) and threatened to "have his throat cut off" unless they were handed the records for destruction.
The Finns apparently managed to distract them for long enough to make 2 or 3 copies of the record discs, one of whom was discovered by relatives among the belongings of the Finnish sound technician after his death long after WW-2). Of the other 2 copies one was handed back to the Germans I think, and one was kept at some Finnish Central records office where it apparently got lost or destroyed after a while.
unquote

So I think the answers are, it was recorded on record, for the Finnish public broadcasting company, by a man how must have had a trustworthy face and a HUGH laundry bill.

Thanks again everyone

TYJ

[coil1234]

As an aside to this I remember reading in a late 70's Wireless World an article on early magnetic recording; apparently some time after VE Day Eisenhower broadcast to Europe, the speech having been previously recorded onto magnetic tape, however some time into the recording Hitlers voice broke through, (he had been dead several months) due to poor erasure. After this it was decreed that only 'virgin' tape should be used for important broadcasts.
Facinating thread - as usual.

Mike A

[flywheel]

Originally Posted by flywheel

This seemed a bit dubious to me - not only do we have the question of what tape machine the Finnish secret service (not, if I recall the programme correctly, their state broadcasting organisation) were using, but it was said the recording was interrupted by German security personnel. Now, surely they would have then confiscated the tape, or destroyed it on the spot?

I need more persuading this was not a hoax...

Thanks for all the extra info and references - I'm now satisfied this was genuine. I guess, from the confirmation this was a disc recording, that acetate would have been used, hence the extended recording time and fairly good quality.