Broadcasting House Dornbusch

Broadcasting House Dornbusch is the main broadcasting facility for Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt and houses numerous studios for radio and television productions. The distinctive circular structure features a large broadcasting hall with around 850 seats and includes a concert organ.

The building was originally designed in 1948 as a seat for the German parliament, but Frankfurt never became the national capital. This political shift led to the structure being repurposed and eventually transformed into a major broadcasting facility.

The main broadcasting hall serves as home to the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and hosts regular concert performances and recordings. Visitors can experience how classical music and radio broadcasting intertwine in daily operations when orchestra rehearsals echo through the building.

The facility features modern digital studios that were expanded in 2015 and 2016 with virtual recording capabilities for contemporary productions. Visitors should note that the infrastructure remains in active use for daily broadcasting operations, so not all areas are freely accessible.

The building serves as a distribution hub for the ARD network and facilitates program sharing between all major German public broadcasting stations. This technical role makes it an invisible nerve center of German radio that coordinates thousands of broadcast hours every single day.