He moved to Hamburg in January 1952 when he began working for the Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR) broadcasting organisation, initially working in radio as head of the domestic policy department, and then as deputy head of political section and head of the features department. During this period there were some spectacular productions, such as Erich Kuby's "Nur noch rauchende Trümmer – das Ende der Festung Brest" (""Only smoking debris left – the end of Fortress Brest""), first transmitted by NWDR on 19 October 1954: the broadcast earned a forceful back-handed compliment in the form of a legal challenge from General Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, the military commander in command of the German forces during the fighting. The trial ended in 1959 with an acquittal for the programme author and editor.