 In 1948, the Control Commission transferred NWDR to the control of the constituent Länder, where it became an ""Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts"" - a public corporation.The first German General Manager was Adolf Grimme, an SPD politician.From 1951 until 1955, Ernst Schnabel, the German writer and pioneer maker of radio features (documentaries), was director of NWDR.