IFA – synonymous with progress for 100 years

IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung) in Berlin is the largest consumer electronics and home appliances show in the world. Its organisers also use the acronym IFA to convey the show’s mission: “Innovation for all”.  

When was IFA first held? 

The first IFA opened in Berlin 100 years ago, on 4 December 1924. At the time, it was named the “Große Deutsche Funkausstellung” - the Great German Radio Exhibition. Revolutionary vacuum tube radios and headphones were presented to the 170,000 guests. To this day, the show welcomes professionals and consumers alike.  

Which specialist areas does IFA cover?  

IFA is divided into three sections: Audio, Communication & Connectivity and Computing & Gaming. Traditionally, IFA has always focused on TV technology and consumer electronics. Later, the Communication section saw the addition of (mobile) telephones and other communication technologies, while the Computing section featured hardware manufacturers in particular, though also software companies.  

What does Albert Einstein have to do with IFA?  

The Nobel laureate, physicist and perhaps best-known scientist of the modern era opened the 1930 IFA with a short speech that was broadcast by radio. As his message was being broadcast live, he used the amusing address “Esteemed persons present and absent!” Einstein stressed the importance of radio communication for international reconciliation and lamented the public’s lack of interest in technology inventors: “Shame on anyone who mindlessly makes use of the wonders of science and technology and does not grasp any more than a cow does of the botany of the plants it complacently grazes on.” 

Which innovations are exclusively presented at IFA? 

Because of its global relevance, IFA presents dozens of new devices each year, as well as new technological developments. Some examples: 1926 saw the first live radio broadcast. 1928 saw the first television presented to a wider public - its screen was black and white and measured 8 × 10 centimetres. The first VCR home video recorders were unveiled in 1971, as was the first wireless TV remote control. The revolutionary CompactDisc (CD) celebrated its world premiere at IFA in 1981.