Dr. Hans-Ulrich Wagner studied German Language and Literature at the Universities of Bamberg and Münster and worked as a freelance literary critic and journalist. He gained a doctorate in Bamberg in 1996 with a study on the radio plays of the immediate postwar years 1945-1949. Subsequently, he worked at the German Broadcasting Archive in Frankfurt am Main, with a DFG project on the broadcasting work of Günter Eich, as well as being a curator of the exhibition “Remigranten und Rundfunk 1945-1955” (returning emigrants and broadcasting 1945-1955).
He has been working at the Research Centre Media History since 1 December 2000, initially as a staff member, and since 1 August 2005 as its head. He fulfils teaching and examination roles at the University of Hamburg in the Department of Language, Literature and Media I/Media Culture. He has been a member of the jury for the “Hörspielpreis der Kriegsblinden. Preis für Radiokunst” (Blind War Veterans’ Prize for Radio Plays. Prize for Radio Arts”) since 1996 and was editor of the journal, “Rundfunk und Geschichte” (“Broadcasting and History”) from 2005 to 2012. Since 2012 he is editor of the journal "Medien und Kommunikationswissenschaft". He is a board member of the “Studienkreises Rundfunk und Geschichte” [Circle for the Study of Broadcasting and History] and acted as chair from 2007 to 2011.
His research interests include all issues of mediated public communication, the main focus being the investigation of long-term media effects, the relationship of broadcasting and literature, sound studies, as well as overarching questions on the history of media, programming and mentalities in the 20th century.
Hans-Ulrich Wagner's publication list (PDF)