During WWII German radio hosted the Wünschkonzert für die Wehrmacht, playing music requested by German soldiers.
The 1940 motion picture Wünschkonzert , seen by over 20 milllion viewers, used a blend of fiction, newsreel and documentary footage to tell the classic story of lovers separated during wartime. The Plot: A Luftwaffe pilot returning from a secret mission with the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War is unable to find the beloved he’d met in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Three years later, now serving in the Luftwaffe during WWII, he sends a message to the Wünschkonzert program requesting the Olympic anthem be played for her. After hearing it, she finds him again and they are reunited.
The film, produced by Ufa-Film Gbmh (Ufi), Germany’ state-production film company, was reportedly inspired by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. Film footage includes Adolf Hitler arriving at the Olympic Games, Spanish Civil War newsreels, and a montage of soldiers listening to the Wünschkonzert. Musical interludes featured popular German stars Marika Rökk, Paul Hörbiger, and Heinz Rühmann.