About MDR Sachsen-Anhalt

MDR Sachsen-Anhalt

MDR Sachsen-Anhalt is the regional radio programme of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR) for the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Launched on 1 January 1992 as "MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt" and shortened to its current name on 2 July 2012, it is an oldie-oriented regional wave combining state news, service, and conversation with the best Schlager and the most beautiful oldies. Its current claim is "Mein Radio. Mein Zuhause." ("My radio. My home."), succeeding "Das Radio wie wir" ("The radio like us", used until 1 June 2025). With 407,000 listeners (Media-Analyse II/2026), it is Saxony-Anhalt's leading public radio programme.

Overview

MDR Sachsen-Anhalt broadcasts from the Landesfunkhaus in the state capital Magdeburg across Saxony-Anhalt on FM, DAB+, cable, satellite, and livestream. The programme is headed by Ulrich Manitz and is financed partly through broadcasting fees and partly through radio advertising, the standard mixed funding of the MDR's regional waves. The MDR intendant is Ralf Ludwig.

History

Like its Saxon and Thuringian sisters, MDR Sachsen-Anhalt was born at midnight on 1 January 1992, when the newly founded Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk took over broadcasting in the three central German states from the dissolved East German broadcasting system. Its predecessor was "Radio Sachsen-Anhalt", one of the three transitional regional broadcasters created during the July 1990 decentralisation of GDR broadcasting — built from the old Radio DDR regional studios in Halle and Magdeburg.

The station's history has one distinctive chapter: the 2012 renaming. On 2 July 2012 — five years before the Saxon and Thuringian programmes dropped their "1" — MDR 1 Radio Sachsen-Anhalt shortened its name to "MDR Sachsen-Anhalt" and introduced the claim "Das Radio wie wir". The early rename reflected the station's confidence: as the radio of Germany's least populous eastern Flächenland, it had built a loyal audience by leaning into regional identity — the "we" of the claim was Saxony-Anhalt itself.

The Magdeburg Landesfunkhaus has seen turbulent times. From 1 January 2021, Ines Hoge-Lorenz was Funkhaus director; her resignation was announced on 26 August 2022 after what she described as a lack of transparency toward the broadcaster regarding her husband's activities — apparently connected to the scandal surrounding former MDR manager Udo Foht. The episode was part of the broader governance crisis that shook the MDR in the early 2020s.

On 1 June 2025, the station replaced the thirteen-year-old "Das Radio wie wir" claim with "Mein Radio. Mein Zuhause." — shifting the emphasis from collective identity to personal belonging.

A State Still Inventing Itself

To understand MDR Sachsen-Anhalt's "Das Radio wie wir" claim — and its 2025 successor "Mein Radio. Mein Zuhause." — it helps to know how young Saxony-Anhalt is as a state. Created in 1947 from the Prussian Province of Saxony and the Free State of Anhalt, dissolved into GDR districts in 1952, and recreated in 1990, Saxony-Anhalt is a construct still building its identity: the Bauhaus city of Dessau, the Hanseatic towns of the Altmark, the chemical triangle of Halle-Bitterfeld, the Harz mountains, and Magdeburg, the state capital on the Elbe, do not obviously belong together. The state's public radio has been one of the institutions tasked with making them belong together — reporting from "all regions of the state", in the station's own description, and giving the new Land a shared acoustic home.

The 2012 claim "Das Radio wie wir" was a declaration of this mission: the radio is like us — like the people of Saxony-Anhalt. The 2025 shift to "Mein Radio. Mein Zuhause." personalises the same idea: from collective identity to individual belonging, from "we" to "my home". Both claims position the station against private competitors that can play the same music but cannot claim the same rootedness.

The Competition: radio SAW and Radio Brocken

Saxony-Anhalt's private radio market is unusually strong. radio SAW — the market leader — and Radio Brocken, along with Rockland and 89.0 RTL, give listeners ample commercial choice. The Media-Analyse figures show radio SAW ahead of MDR Sachsen-Anhalt in daily reach, making the public station the challenger in its own state — the reverse of the Saxon situation, where MDR Sachsen leads.

This competitive pressure shapes the programme: the "best Schlager and most beautiful oldies" promise is a direct bid for the mainstream adult audience that private hit-radio also courts, while the regional news and conversation formats provide the public-service differentiation. The station's 407,000 listeners represent a loyal core — family-oriented, quality-conscious, connected to the region, in the MDR's own audience description.

The Landesfunkhaus Model

The Magdeburg Landesfunkhaus exemplifies the MDR's trimedial organisation: radio, television, and online for Saxony-Anhalt are produced under one roof at Stadtparkstraße 8. The television output includes "Sachsen-Anhalt heute" (the state's daily TV news magazine), "MDR um 11", and the talk programme "Fakt ist!". This integration means the radio newsroom and the television newsroom share reporting resources — a model the MDR applies in Dresden and Erfurt as well, and one that the ARD's ongoing reforms are pushing all German public broadcasters toward.

Governance Crisis

The 2022 resignation of Funkhaus director Ines Hoge-Lorenz belongs to the darkest chapter in the MDR's recent history. The scandal surrounding former MDR manager Udo Foht — involving opaque business dealings — triggered investigations, resignations, and a fundamental debate about governance at the broadcaster. That the Magdeburg house was touched by the affair, through the director's husband's activities, showed how deeply the crisis penetrated the institution. The MDR has since reformed its compliance structures; the intendant is now Ralf Ludwig.

Programming

MDR Sachsen-Anhalt describes itself as the state broadcaster with current information and journalistic background from the state and all its regions — the station with the best entertainment and music, thanks to the best Schlager and most beautiful oldies. The format is the oldie-oriented regional mix shared with the Saxon and Thuringian sister programmes: international and German hits of the 1960s to 1990s, current hits, regional news, service, and conversation formats.

The Landesfunkhaus Magdeburg is more than a radio house: it also produces the MDR's online and television output for Saxony-Anhalt, including the television programmes "Sachsen-Anhalt heute", "MDR um 11", and "Fakt ist!". This trimedial integration — radio, television, and online from one house — is the MDR's organisational model for all three states.

Coverage and Audience

MDR Sachsen-Anhalt broadcasts across Saxony-Anhalt on FM (including 94.6 MHz in Magdeburg, 100.8 MHz in Halle, 94.9 MHz in Stendal, and 88.1 MHz in Wittenberg), DAB+, cable, satellite, and livestream every day. Its 407,000 listeners (MA II/2026) make it the state's leading public wave, competing with strong private rivals — notably radio SAW, the market leader, and Radio Brocken — in one of eastern Germany's most contested radio markets.

Ownership and Funding

MDR Sachsen-Anhalt is operated by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk, the public-law broadcaster for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia and a member of the ARD, headquartered in Leipzig with its radio centre in Halle (Saale). The programme is financed partly through the broadcasting licence fee and partly through radio advertising. The MDR intendant is Ralf Ludwig.

Digital Presence

MDR Sachsen-Anhalt's online presence is integrated into the MDR's digital platforms at mdr.de, with livestream, programme information, and podcasts available around the clock; programme directories list the station's web presence under the MDR's Saxony-Anhalt pages. Because the official domain has not been independently load-verified, the website field of this profile is left empty pending verification.