Freies Radio Salzkammergut: live radio from Bad Ischl

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Bad Ischl, Austria

Freies Radio Salzkammergut

Eight masts, one lake district.

Alpine village radio: Volksmusik, blues rock, and techno.

Freies Radio Salzkammergut went on air from Bad Ischl in March 1999 and has been spreading outward ever since: eight low-power transmitters strung between the Wolfgangsee, Hallstatt and Gmunden, satellite studios in Gmunden and Vöcklabruck, and a technical reach of roughly 240,000 people across three provinces. It is non-commercial, carried by an association set up to support exactly this kind of project, and around 130 volunteers keep it going — plus the school classes it teaches to make radio and podcasts.

Their 75-odd shows make no attempt to agree with each other: a Monday hour of regional folk, the Blues Rock Beisl that has run since the first week, Austrian B-sides on Der Austronom, reggae history, house and techno on Klang.Punkt, Indian music on Bharat Radio. Der Widerhall handles regional news seriously enough that Parliament gave the station its Democracy Prize in 2016.

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Bad Ischl, Austria

Freies Radio Salzkammergut

Eight masts, one lake district.

Alpine village radio: Volksmusik, blues rock, and techno.

Freies Radio Salzkammergut went on air from Bad Ischl in March 1999 and has been spreading outward ever since: eight low-power transmitters strung between the Wolfgangsee, Hallstatt and Gmunden, satellite studios in Gmunden and Vöcklabruck, and a technical reach of roughly 240,000 people across three provinces. It is non-commercial, carried by an association set up to support exactly this kind of project, and around 130 volunteers keep it going — plus the school classes it teaches to make radio and podcasts.

Their 75-odd shows make no attempt to agree with each other: a Monday hour of regional folk, the Blues Rock Beisl that has run since the first week, Austrian B-sides on Der Austronom, reggae history, house and techno on Klang.Punkt, Indian music on Bharat Radio. Der Widerhall handles regional news seriously enough that Parliament gave the station its Democracy Prize in 2016.