aug. 12th 2024

Honorary member of the GFGF e.V. – Günter Abele – deceased.

Our honorary member Günter Abele passed away on 5 August 2024 at the age of 95.
Even as a boy, Günter Abele tinkered with detectors and later took up the profession of radio technician. He specialised in the servicing of electrical medical devices and then continued his training in the field of HF welding technology for plastics, where he became a generally recognised expert. His book "Hochfrequenz-Schweißtechnik" (1965) became the standard work in this field.
From the end of the 1970s, Günter Abele collected historical radio equipment and built up a considerable collection. He also researched the history of radio and the company histories of German radio companies from the beginning until the 1990s. His first book on this subject, "Radio Nostalgie", was published in 1993, still in paperback and 100 pages thick. This was followed in 1996 by the first two volumes of the "Historische Radios" series, which were followed in 1999 by three further volumes, now hardback and 300 pages thick. This was followed in 2003 by the "Radio Chronicle", which deals with the post-war history of the radio industry, now totalling 6 volumes with highly interesting information and the fruits of years of research work. He also published the "Dynamic Radio Chronicle" in individual volumes for collectors.
In 2000, Günter Abele was awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his outstanding services in the field of media history.
In his introductory speech on his appointment as an honorary member of the GFGF e.V. in 2001, Günter Abele emphasised how important it is not only to collect radios, but also to know as much as possible about them. His chronicle has contributed to the fact that friends of radio history are not only seen as collectors, but also as preservers of cultural assets.
Günter Abele was an open, humorous and always helpful collector's friend. From 1989 to 1998, he was a member of the GFGF Board of Directors as a trustee within the association.
I will never forget the many technical discussions we had at collectors' meetings and will always remember him as a competent and friendly person.
If you would like to see him again with his collection, you can find him on youtube as "Radiogeschichte von Günter Abele".
Our condolences go out to his four children and his partner.
Rüdiger Walz