hr4 streams Schlager, oldies and international evergreens for listeners from Hesse, Germany, aimed at an audience that grew up with these songs the first time around. It is free to stream right now on Radio Shuffle, anywhere in the world, no account required.
Born to Fund a Television Channel
hr4 first went on air on October 6, 1986, run by Hessischer Rundfunk, the public broadcaster for the German state of Hesse. The station exists in part because of a funding quirk: advertising revenue from hr's television channel was earmarked to help finance what became its fourth radio station, giving hr4 an origin story tied directly to its sister TV network rather than a standalone business case.
From Frankfurt to Kassel
The station broadcast out of Frankfurt am Main for nearly two decades before Hessischer Rundfunk moved its studios to Kassel in September 2004, shifting hr4's home base away from the state's largest city toward northern Hesse. It now reaches listeners across the region through FM, DAB+, cable and satellite, alongside its live stream.
Simply in a Good Mood
hr4 runs under the slogan "Einfach gut drauf," simply in a good mood, and builds its entire schedule around Schlager, oldies and international evergreens aimed at listeners aged 50 and up. Presenters including Jens Schulenburg, Dieter Voss and Britta Wiegand anchor a lineup that also splits into five regional windows across different parts of Hesse, giving listeners local flavor inside a shared musical format.
Part of a Wider ARD Schlager Push
Since January 2025, hr4 has joined other German regional public broadcasters to co-produce shared programming such as the ARD Schlagerparty and ARD Schlagerhitparade, pooling resources across states to keep the Schlager format strong at a national level rather than leaving each station to compete for the same aging audience alone.
Listen to hr4 Free on Radio Shuffle
Press play above for Schlager, oldies and evergreens from Hesse, streamed free on Radio Shuffle with no account or app needed.