This high-end receiver was manufactured by Lorenz specifically for the Luftwaffe in the 1941 to 1942 period. By many accounts, only a batch of 1000 receivers were manufactured. This receiver was replaced by the E-52 Köln series in 1943. There are reports that the "Schwabenland" performs better than the E-52 Köln with respect to sensitivity, although they are rated for similar sensitivity.

These receivers were used by the French Navy until the 1960s, at which point they surplussed them. An unfortunate detail of this "surplussing" involved them breaking the ceramic rod of the central tuning capacitor, so the receivers could not be used again. This may be repaired, but the repair is very involved and costly.

Intermediate frequency is 1240 KHz.

More information is available at Luca Fusari's excellent page on the "Schwabenland".

There is also a copy of the original manual, obtained from Dr. Arthur Bauer's website.

"Schwabenland" / E52 comparison

* microvolts

From
Die deutschen Funknachrichtenanlagen bis 1945 - Band 2 "Der Zweite Weltkrieg
Fritz Trenkle

The technical specifications (frequency ranges) of the E52 which are printed on the case, are very similar to the short-wave receiver "Schwabenland" EO 8268 from Lorenz. It specifically lists the frequency specification of 1,5-25,0 MHz in eight sections, the vacuum tube profile consisted of 11x RV12P2000. Bandwidth was selectable between 200 and 5000 Hz by means of a quartz crystal filter, with sensitivity ranging from 0,2-0,5 µV input voltage for a 1 Volt output voltage at 5000 Ohms. It can be logically assumed that the E52 was created as a direct competitor to the Schwabenland. The "Schwabenland" was listed for procurement along side the E52 for the Ln-School in November 1942, and was available for some time later. The Kriegsmarine immediately procured the "Schwabenland", of which approximately 1000 examples were produced. The device had neither a Luftwaffe nor a Kriegsmarine designation. Oddly enough a detailed description of the receiver with a schematic and parts list appeared in the 1943 edition of Radio Mentor.

The "Schwabenland" was constructed as follows:
HF-Circuit: 1 - HF-Stage 1 - HF-Circuit 2 - HF-Stage 2 - HF-Circuit 3 - Mixer - 1. Oscillator - tunable IF-double synchronized circuit band-pass filter with quartz-IF-Stage 1 - IF-bandpass filter 2 - IF stage 2 - IF bandpass filter 3 - IF stage 3 - telegraphy and tuning oscillator - tuning diode - detection diode - volume control - audio frequency stage. A built in AC power supply 33W. Dimensions are 345mm X 440mm X 304mm, weight is 40 kg. Although this receiver was procured in larger numbers and was popular with the troops, it was apparently only used in fixed radio stations, while the Köln was also provided to motorized radio teams.