The orchestra was founded in 1923 as a radio orchestra, and is the oldest active radio orchestra in Germany. Bruno Seidler-Winkler was the first chief conductor, from 1926 to 1932. During its early years, the orchestra had a reputation for its work with contemporary, 20th-century composers. Composers who guest-conducted the orchestra included Paul Hindemith, Arthur Honegger, Darius Milhaud, Sergei Prokofiev, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky, as well as Krzysztof Penderecki, Walter Schartner and Udo Zimmermann. After the 1949 division of Germany, the orchestra was under the supervision of Rundfunk der DDR (DDR Radio).
