About Radio ZuSa

Radio ZuSa

Radio ZuSa is a local non-commercial radio station in northeastern Lower Saxony, Germany, with broadcast studios in the Hanseatic towns of Uelzen and Lüneburg. The station went on air on 7 May 1997 as a pilot project of the state media authority for more local information on the radio — a programme made by the citizens themselves. The name ZuSa stands for "Zucker und Salz", sugar and salt: the sugar of Uelzen, the salt of Lüneburg, the two studio towns in one name. Operated by the non-profit Rundfunkgesellschaft Nordostniedersachsen gGmbH based in Uelzen, the station broadcasts on FM (Lüneburg 95.5 MHz, Uelzen 88.0 MHz), since 28 April 2025 also on DAB+ via Lüneburg-Neu Wendhausen, plus the internet stream. The Wendland frequency Dannenberg 89.7 MHz was switched off on 1 April 2021. The redactions in Uelzen and Lüneburg produce six hours of magazine programme daily — the morning "Extrawach" and the afternoon "Happy Hour" — and the 2006 TNS Emnid survey found 85.6 percent awareness in the region: the citizen radio the region knows and hears, the pilot project become the institution, the non-commercial station the region made its own.

Overview

Radio ZuSa covers the Lüneburger Heide and the Elbmarsch: the heath, the Elbe marshes, the Hanseatic towns, the districts of Lüneburg, Uelzen and Harburg — the northeastern Lower Saxony between Hamburg and the Wendland. The heath's character is the programme's backdrop: the heather, the sheep, the heath villages, the Elbe's marshes — the local radio for the heathland. The Elbmarsch's character is the programme's other half: the dikes, the orchards, the Elbe's tides — the local radio for the marshland. The station is non-commercial and therefore advertising-free: the citizen radio for the heath and the marsh, reporting independently and non-partisanly from the region for the region. The name is the programme: ZuSa, sugar and salt — Uelzen's sugar (the sugar factory town) and Lüneburg's salt (the salt town, the Hanseatic salt trade), the two studio towns' emblems in one word. The redactions in Uelzen and Lüneburg produce six hours of magazine programme daily: the morning magazine "Extrawach" (6–10) and the afternoon show "Happy Hour" (16–18). The free airtime and the news were initially taken from NDR 2; since 2002 they come from Deutschlandradio Kultur: the public broadcasters' news on the citizen radio's frequencies. A 2006 TNS Emnid survey found 85.6 percent of the region's citizens knew the station, 68.3 percent had heard it: the citizen radio the region knows. The reception is FM (Lüneburg 95.5, Uelzen 88.0), DAB+ since April 2025, and the internet stream: the heath and the marsh on every path.

History

Radio ZuSa is a product of the state media authority's pilot project for more local information on the radio: on 7 May 1997, the station took up broadcasting with studios in Lüneburg and Uelzen. The citizens' programme: the free airtime made by the citizens, the news from NDR 2, later from Deutschlandradio Kultur. The pilot became the institution: the citizens' radio that stayed, the non-commercial station that the region made its own. The station's own airtime and distribution kept growing: in 2002, a third studio opened in Lüchow, moving to Dannenberg in 2007; it no longer exists — the Wendland chapter closed. The Dannenberg frequency 89.7 MHz for the Wendland was switched off on 1 April 2021 — until then, over 400,000 people could receive Radio ZuSa via antenna; after the switch-off, about 80,000 fewer: the Wendland's loss, the heath and the marsh's station remaining. Since 28 April 2025, the station is also on DAB+ via Lüneburg-Neu Wendhausen: the citizen radio's digital age, the new distribution for the old mission. The Lüneburg studio is the salt town's voice, the Uelzen studio the sugar town's: the two Hanseatic towns' redactions, the region's newsrooms, the citizens' microphones. The pilot project's idea — more local information, made by the citizens — proved durable: nearly three decades later, the citizens' radio still broadcasts, still non-commercial, still the region's own. The Uelzen headquarters in the Ripdorfer Straße houses the gGmbH: the sugar town's broadcast home, the non-profit's address.

The Bürgerrundfunk Landscape

Radio ZuSa is one of 15 independent citizen-radio stations (Bürgerfunksender) in Lower Saxony, licensed and supervised by the Niedersächsische Landesmedienanstalt (NLM). The state's Bürgerrundfunk model, created in 2002 when the open channels and non-commercial local radios were merged into a single category, is financed from broadcast license-fee revenue and reserves airtime for programmes made by citizens themselves. Unlike the commercial local stations — radio ffn, Antenne Niedersachsen, Radio 21 — the citizen radios are non-commercial and advertising-free by statute, and their mandate is media diversity and media competence: whoever takes part learns the craft of broadcasting. The NLM's reach surveys have repeatedly found the citizen radios among the best-known local media in their transmission areas, with Radio ZuSa's 85.6 percent awareness in the 2006 TNS Emnid survey a strong example.

Programming

The programme is the region's day: the morning magazine "Extrawach" 6–10, the afternoon "Happy Hour" 16–18, six hours of magazine programme daily from the Uelzen and Lüneburg redactions. The morning magazine wakes the heath: the region's news, the weather, the topics of the day — "Extrawach", extra awake, the region's alarm clock. The afternoon "Happy Hour" carries the region through the late day: the lighter topics, the culture, the region's voices. The university radio "Katerfrühstück" — the Lüneburg university's radio — airs on Radio ZuSa: the students' voices on the citizen radio, the campus on the heath's frequencies. The programme is made by the citizens: the volunteers, the freelancers, the nine employees, the two volunteers-in-training and the two FSJlers — the region's radio by the region's people. The citizen radio strengthens the region: the regional topics, the opinion diversity, the cultural diversity, the media diversity, the media competence — whoever joins Radio ZuSa learns the media, the democracy's local school. The independent, non-partisan reporting is the station's mandate: from the region for the region, the citizens' journalism. The free airtime is the citizens' open channel: the associations, the initiatives, the individuals — everyone's programme on the citizen radio's frequencies, the heath's and the marsh's open microphone.

Organization and Ownership

The operator is the non-profit Rundfunkgesellschaft Nordostniedersachsen gGmbH based in Uelzen. The CEO is Wolfgang Laudan; the editors-in-chief are Matthias Dworschak and Carsten Schlüter. The station employs nine staff, two volunteers, two FSJlers and freelancers. The citizen radio is non-commercial and advertising-free: the independence is the programme, the non-profit status the guarantee — no advertisers, no influence, the citizens' radio. The gGmbH form is the non-profit's legal shell: the public-benefit company, the region's radio as the region's public good. The district councils support the citizen radio: the Lüneburg district's documents describe Radio ZuSa as the non-commercial, advertising-free citizen radio for heath and Elbmarsch, reporting independently and non-partisanly — the public recognition of the citizens' station.

Digital Presence

Radio ZuSa streams on the internet at radio-zusa.de, on FM and since 2025 on DAB+. The website carries the programme, the stream, the citizen-radio information: the heath and the marsh online, the region's radio in the browser. The digital distribution extends the terrestrial: the stream for the region's emigrants, the DAB+ for the car, the FM for the kitchen — the citizens' radio on every device, the heath's voice everywhere.

Since 7 May 1997, Radio ZuSa has been the citizen radio of northeastern Lower Saxony: sugar and salt, Uelzen and Lüneburg, the citizens' programme — the heath and the marsh on the airwaves, on FM, DAB+ and the stream. The pilot project's legacy: the citizens' radio that stayed, the region's voice, the non-commercial station — Zucker und Salz, every day, for the region, by the region, on the air, the citizens' microphones open.