Erich Geiersberger und der Landfunk des Bayerischen Rundfunks 1959-1970: Zwischen Journalismus und agrarpolitischer Einflussnahme

The article analyses how the broadcasting journalist Erich Geiersberger (1925-2012) used his position and presence in the public broadcast to spread his vision of an alternative agricultural policy based on the cooperation of full time and part time farmers in machinery rings. Geiersberger had developed the idea of the machinery ring in 1958 right before he started his career in the Bavarian public broadcasting service. During the 1960s he constantly critisized the agricultural policy of the German federal government and the upcoming Common Agricultural Policy as it was – in his eyes – too much focused on the prices of agricultural products and full time farms. Due to his omnipresence in the media and his harsh rhetoric Geiersberger gained an impressive influence in Bavarian and German agricultural politics. Based on his popularity and intensive informal networks including the Bavarian ministry of agriculture, Geiersberger even suceeded in having the funding of machinery rings and the equality of full and part time farms enshrined in the Bavarian agricultural law of 1970. The case of Erich Geiersberger and the Landfunk demonstrates that agricultural politics in Germany and Bavaria after 1945 have not exclusively been dominated by the farmers’ unions, as historical research emphasized so far.