Axel Springer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Axel Cäsar Springer (2 May 1912 – 22 September 1985) was a German publisher and founder of what is now
Axel Springer SE Axel Springer SE () is a German digital and popular periodical publishing house which is the largest in Europe, with numerous multimedia news brands, such as '' Bild'', ''Die Welt'', and ''Fakt'' and more than 15,000 employees. It generated to ...
, the largest media publishing firm in Europe. By the early 1960s his print titles dominated the West German daily press market. His ''Bild Zeitung'' became the nation's tabloid. In the late 1960s Springer entered into confrontation with the emergent New Left. Hostile coverage of student protests and a continuing rightward drift in editorial comment were met with boycotts and printing-press blockades and, in 1972, the bombing of the company offices by the
Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...
(the "Baader Meinhof Gang"). In the late 1970s exposés of journalistic malpractice by the investigative reporter
Günter Wallraff Günter Wallraff (born 1 October 1942) is a German writer and undercover journalist. Research methods Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions an ...
led to Press Council reprimands. Sometimes referred to as Germany's
Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...
, Springer, with counter suits and minor divestments, was able to ride out public criticism of his editorial ethics and market dominance. Springer engaged in private diplomacy in Moscow in 1958 and, with greater recognition, in Jerusalem in 1966 and 1967. In addition to promotion and defence of the values of the "Western family of nations" and the
North Atlantic alliance The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, Springer declared "reconciliation of Jews and Germans and support for the vital rights of the State of Israel" to be a ''leitmotif'' of his company's journalism.


Early life

Axel Caesar Springer was born 2 May 1912 in Altona, a suburb of
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, the son of Hinrich and Ottilie Springer. He was apprenticed as a compositor in his father's small printing and publishing firm, Hammerich & Lesser-Verlag. When in 1941 his father's newspaper holdings were sold by order of the Ministry of Propaganda, he was editing the business and sports pages for the ''Altonaer Nachrichten.'' He stayed with the firm printing literary works. In 1933, Springer married Martha Else Meyer, a Jewish woman. They divorced in 1938. While the divorce papers list Springer's infidelity as grounds (he would have five wives over the course of his 73 years), under the Editorial Law of 1933, the first Nazi-era regulations of the publishing industry, Springer would have found that his marriage to a person of "non-Aryan descent" barred him as an editor and publisher. Springer would later support both Meyer and her mother, who survived the
Theresienstadt Ghetto Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination cam ...
. Springer later commented: "I cannot say I didn't know what was happening. In 1933 I stood on the
Kurfürstendamm The Kurfürstendamm (; colloquially ''Ku'damm'', ; en, Prince Elector Embankment) is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former ''Kurfürsten'' (prince-electors) of Brandenburg. The broad, long boulevar ...
in Berlin and watched Nazi Storm Troopers beating up old Jews. I was a young man, and I couldn't do anything about it. But I never forgot it".


German press lord


From ''Hörzu'' to ''Bild'' and ''Die Welt''

After the war, in 1946, Springer founded his own publishing company, ''Axel Springer GmbH'', in Hamburg publishing the radio (and later TV) listings magazine ''Hörzu''. Never having worn a uniform (thanks to asthma and diabetes) or been a member of the Nazi party, Springer was able to obtain from the British occupation authorities a license to run a newspaper. His first daily was the ''
Hamburger Abendblatt The ''Hamburger Abendblatt'' (English: ''Hamburg Evening Newspaper'') is a German daily newspaper in Hamburg. The paper focuses on news in Hamburg and area, and produces regional supplements with news from Norderstedt, Ahrensburg, Harburg, and ...
''. Competing in Hamburg with the five other dailies, Springer offered a paper he described as "geared to the underdog and the little man", and perfected a formula he launched on the national market in 1952 with ''Bild Zeitung''. Fed a tabloid mix of sensation, scandal, celebrity, sports and horoscopes, the ''Bild'' readership peaked in the mid-1960s at 4.5 million. It had the largest circulation of any newspaper in Western Europe or North America. ''Bild'' allowed Springer the luxury of the national broadsheet ''Die Welt'', a loss maker but a rival to the
newspapers of record A newspaper of record is a major national newspaper with large circulation whose editorial and news-gathering functions are considered authoritative and independent; they are thus "newspapers of record by reputation" and include some of the o ...
, ''
Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...
'' and the ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...
''. In 1956, Springer also took over the prestigious Ullstein publishing house in Berlin, acquiring among other titles, the ''Berliner Morgenpost''.


Zehrer and the approach to Moscow

Springer's choice as chief editor for ''Die Welt'' was controversial.
Hans Zehrer Hans Zehrer ( pseud. Hans Thomas; 22 June 1899 – 23 August 1966) was a German philosopher and journalist. He edited a leading right-wing journal, ''Die Tat'', and founded the ''Tat'' Circle. Biography Zehrer was born in Berlin to a postal of ...
was a veteran of the
Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo th ...
of 1920, and in the last Weimar years had been the editor of the nationalist and anti-republican journal ''
Die Tat ''Die Tat'' (''The Deed'' or ''The Action'') was a German monthly publication of politics and culture. It was founded in April 1909 and its publisher (from 1912 on) was Eugen Diederichs from Jena. From 1939 until 1944 ''Die Tat'' was continued as ...
''. In 1946, he had been removed from the then British-controlled ''Die Welt'' after protests from Britain's Labour government and from the Social Democrats then governing Hamburg. At ''Die Welt'' Springer allowed Zehrer to entertain the idea of an Austrian solution for Germany. In 1955, Austria had regained its unity and independence through a four-power agreement guaranteeing the country's non-alignment and neutrality. In January 1958, Springer travelled with Zehrer to Moscow. Before departing he told to a reporter: "I know very well that there are people who consider me naïve. But I believe in reunification within five years." In addition to permanent German neutrality, Springer was proposing a nuclear-free Central Europe.
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
kept Springer and Zehrer waiting sixteen days for an interview. It did not go well, and cannot have been helped by Springer seeking to convince the Soviet premier of the advantages not only of German neutrality but also of West Germany's
social market economy The social market economy (SOME; german: soziale Marktwirtschaft), also called Rhine capitalism, Rhine-Alpine capitalism, the Rhenish model, and social capitalism, is a socioeconomic model combining a free-market capitalist economic system alon ...
. The Russians, like the Americans, viewed their strategic position in Germany as indispensable. Neutrality was not option. Springer was to describe the trip as the "central political event of my life", convincing him that there was no alternative to
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...
's ''Westbindung'': to discount Communist overtures and to persevere with the North Atlantic alliance. On his return he forbad any criticism of the western allies, whether it was of the British in Cyprus, the French in Algeria, or the Americans in the
Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a s ...
, because "we need them in Berlin".


Alleged American funding

There are questions as to how, in the lean post-war years, Springer was able to finance so large and rapid an expansion. He operated without partners; even after currency reform in 1948, for a relative upstart bank credit would have difficult to come by; and his first stock for public subscription was not issued until months before his death in 1985. There were rumours that Springer, in the early post war years, was the beneficiary of covert U.S. efforts to shape and direct public opinion in Germany. According to the American investigative journalist
Murray Waas Murray S. Waas is an American independent investigative journalist known most recently for his coverage of the White House planning for the 2003 invasion of Iraq and ensuing controversies and American political scandals such as the Plame affair ...
"highly reliable sources in the U.S. intelligence community" testified to the figure of "some $7 million" funnelled through the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
to Springer in the early 1950s. The case appears otherwise circumstantial, based on Springer's editorial support of U.S. foreign policy . There was no mistaking Springer's anti-communism (he favoured Social Democrat
Kurt Schumacher Curt Ernst Carl Schumacher, better known as Kurt Schumacher (13 October 1895 – 20 August 1952), was a German politician who became chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany from 1946 and the first Leader of the Opposition in the West ...
's description of communists as "''rotlackierte Nazis''", red-painted Nazis). But given his dalliance with neutralism, his fixed alignment with American "geopolitical interests" can be dated only from his return from Moscow in 1958. It is possible that CIA funding is confused with support from the Government and Relief in Occupied Areas (GARIOA) programme (wound up in October 1950) which ''Die Zeit'', among other pro-democratic, pro-Allied publishing efforts, are known to have benefitted. Springer always maintained that his financial springboard was ''Hörzu'' which, attuned to the new radio and television age, was ground breaking and had no market rival.


The Spiegel affair

On 26 October 1962, the
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
offices of ''
Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' were raided and closed by police. The publisher,
Rudolf Augstein Rudolf Karl Augstein (5 November 1923 – 7 November 2002) was a German journalist, editor, publicist, and politician. He was one of the most influential German journalists, founder and part-owner of '' Der Spiegel'' magazine. As a politician, h ...
, along with the weekly's two editors-in-chief and a reporter were arrested. Defense minister
Franz Josef Strauss Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions betwee ...
levelled accusations of treason (''Landesverrat'') in respect of an article detailing NATO projections of "unimaginable chaos" in the event of a Soviet nuclear strike and criticising the government's lack of preparedness. In a statement he was later obliged to recant, Strauss denied himself initiating the police action. Although Augstein was a liberal critic, Springer offered his presses, teletypes and office space so ''Der Spiegel'' could keep on publishing. It was, however, at the cost of further access to ''Die Welt'' that columnist
Sebastian Haffner Raimund Pretzel (27 December 1907 – 2 January 1999), better known by his pseudonym Sebastian Haffner, was a German journalist and historian. As an émigré in Britain during World War II, Haffner argued that accommodation was impossible not on ...
took to the ''
Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. History ...
'' to pronounce on the violation of press freedom and constitutional norms. Adenauer appears to have been sufficiently convinced of Springer's political reliability, that when in October 1963 he resigned as
chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...
, he suggested (perhaps playfully) to ''Bild'' Editor-in-Chief Peter Boenisch that the publisher might be the "politician" best fitted to continue his policies.


Criticism and confrontation


The SDS Anti-Springer campaign

The Spiegel affair ignited youth protest and brought the ''Sozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund'' (SDS), the German Socialist Student Union, onto the streets. Swift to denounce those who questioned the equity and social costs of the West German ''
Wirtschaftswunder The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social marke ...
'' ("economic miracle"), Springer characterised the "extra-parliamentary opposition" as subversive. In June 1967 an open letter from a large group of writers (among them Ingeborg Drewitz,
Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...
and Gunther Grass), accused the Springer Press of "incitement" in a police riot in West Berlin that saw the death of student protester
Benno Ohnesorg Benno Ohnesorg (; 15 October 1940 – 2 June 1967)Böttcher, Dirk (2002). "Ohnesorg, Benno" (in German), in: Hannoversches biographisches Lexikon: von den Anfängen bis in die Gegenwart'. Hannover: Schlütersche. p. 275. was a West German ...
. Rallied by
Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...
's journal ''konkret'', students had been protesting a visit by the
Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
. Bild's response (3 June 1967) to the death was to declare that where "Students threaten: We shoot back" and "This is where fun and compromise and democratic tolerance end. We have to take a stand against SA methods". Protesters broke windows at Springer offices and tried to disrupt printing and delivery, but the trade unions kept their distance from the anti-Springer campaign, and the SDS, increasingly focussed on the
War in Vietnam The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, conceded that the protests had failed to "mobilise the masses". After a month it called a halt. When on 11 April 1968, the SDS leader
Rudi Dutschke Alfred Willi Rudolf "Rudi" Dutschke (; 7 March 1940 – 24 December 1979) was a German sociologist and political activist who, until severely injured by an assassin in 1968, was a leading charismatic figure within the West German Socialist Stu ...
(who had called for the expropriation of Springer's press empire) was shot on the street in West Berlin by the young right-wing extremist
Josef Bachmann Josef Erwin Bachmann (12 October 1944 – 24 February 1970) became widely known in Germany for his assassination attempt on the Marxist activist Rudi Dutschke, firing three bullets at him, on 11 April 1968. Bachmann was convicted of the attack ...
, the cry again was that ''Bild'' was complicit ("Bild schoss mit!"). Serious unrest followed . Demonstrators tried to storm the Springer house in Berlin and set fire to ''Bild'' delivery vans. The Hamburg print shop was besieged to prevent the paper leaving the presses, and in Munich a demonstrator and a policeman were killed after students ransacked the ''Bild'' editorial offices. There were over a thousand arrests. "A tendentious headline in ''Bild''", the protesters claimed, "is more violence than a stone against the head of a policeman".
Helmut Schmidt Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (; 23 December 1918 – 10 November 2015) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Before becoming Cha ...
, then parliamentary leader of the Social Democrats, sought to intervene with Springer. Schmidt conceded that the publisher's success was related to new journalistic methods and formats that catered to public tastes, but charged Springer with using that position of preeminence to mix "news and suggestive commentary". He might have "fewer problems" if he restructured his publishing house on the model of private foundations or public media institutions. In the event, when finally Springer consented to meet with Schmidt in August 1968, their discussion was of the Czechoslovak crisis (Schmidt assuring Springer that it was "impossible" that the Soviets would repeat the events of Budapest 1956 and crush the
Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First Sec ...
with tanks). On 19 May 1972, the
Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF, ; , ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang (, , active 1970–1998), was a West German far-left Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group founded in 1970. The ...
(the "Baader Meinhof Gang") bombed Springer's Hamburg offices injuring 17 employees, two of them seriously. Springer critics regretted the escalation, but accepted the thesis of ''The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, or: How violence develops and where it can lead'',
Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...
's 1974 novel in which violence is framed and driven by a demagogic and unscrupulous tabloid press. "No one", Haffner argued in liberal weekly ''Stern'', "has planted the seeds of violence more keenly than Springer journalism".


Investigations

Springer declared that no government minister need tell him "what the people think". Critics, however, focussed less on his supposedly canny sense for the public, than on his press capacity to shape opinion. It was said that Federal ministers began each day by "combing ''Die Welt'' for signs of whether Springer was smiling of frowning on them." If only in its headline, the front page of ''Bild'' was also seen as "agenda setting". In 1968, a government commission concluded that the degree of control Springer had achieved over the publishing industry in West Germany (40% of newspapers and about 20% of magazines) threatened the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press. But official steps towards decartelisation were successfully pre-empted by Springer's sale of a half dozen of his lesser titles.. A critical test of his ability to manage and deflect concern over media concentration might have come only with the introduction of commercial television, and that was delayed in West Germany until 1984, the year before he died. ( Willi Brandt recalls that his "friendly relations" with Axel Springer first suffered in the early 1960s when, as governing mayor of West Berlin, he had declined Springer's request to help him open the Federal Republic to commercial television by licensing a local broadcaster). A more serious embarrassment for Springer were the investigations of journalist
Günter Wallraff Günter Wallraff (born 1 October 1942) is a German writer and undercover journalist. Research methods Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions an ...
. In 1977, his employment, undercover, as an editor for ''Bild'' led to a exposés, (''Der Aufmacher'' – a pun meaning both "Lead Story" and "the one who opens" – and ''Zeugen der Anklage'', "Witnesses for the Prosecution") of the kinds of journalistic malpractices and unethical research methods Böll had depicted in his novel (directed in 1975 as a film by
Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s, ...
and
Margarethe von Trotta Margarethe von Trotta (; born 21 February 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, and actress. She has been referred to as a "leading force" of the New German Cinema movement.
). Wallraff (denounced by Springer as a "liar", a "psychopath" and an "underground communist") noted that "Bild regularly broke into the private, even intimate sphere of the people it was reporting about", and he claimed to have seen suicide notes written by people who had their lives publicly scandalised by the paper. The German Press Council issued ''Bild'' six reprimands. After extended legal action brought by Springer, a Federal court in 1981 ruled in favour of Mr. Wallraff. It said his writings had focused on "an aberration in journalism, the discussion of which should be of great interest to the public." Injunctions nonetheless prevented publication of some of the most damning material. Un-redacted copies of Wallraff original reporting were not published until 2012.


Opposition to Brandt and Ostpolitik

Springer maintained a position, not itself welcome on the conservative right, that Germans had themselves to blame for their country's division: "What Germany did under Hitler was terrible, and we were destined to suffer for it". But noting that "the people in the other part of Germany were no more guilty that those of us over here", he insisted that they deserved "same kind of chance" at rehabilitation that democratic and market freedoms had allowed their compatriots in the west. On that basis, he refused any recognition that might "normalise" the East German
SED sed ("stream editor") is a Unix utility that parses and transforms text, using a simple, compact programming language. It was developed from 1973 to 1974 by Lee E. McMahon of Bell Labs, and is available today for most operating systems. sed w ...
regime. When
Wall A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including: * Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the supe ...
went up in Berlin in 1961, Springer built his 22-storey headquarters flush up against it in the centre of the city, so that every day it might look over, and be seen from, what his writers regularly referred to as the
Soviet Occupation Zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...
(German: ''Sowjetische Besatzungszone'' or ''SBZ''). While dissenters, such as
Sebastian Haffner Raimund Pretzel (27 December 1907 – 2 January 1999), better known by his pseudonym Sebastian Haffner, was a German journalist and historian. As an émigré in Britain during World War II, Haffner argued that accommodation was impossible not on ...
concluded that there was now no alternative to formal recognition, Springer was unyielding. He condemned the accommodationist
Ostpolitik ''Neue Ostpolitik'' (German for "new eastern policy"), or ''Ostpolitik'' for short, was the normalization of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany) and Eastern Europe, particularly the German Democratic Republ ...
pursued from 1969 by Brandt. Springer's hostility to the SED regime was reciprocated. Over the course of two years from 1968–1970, GDR state television aired a lavishly-produced 10-hour miniseries, ''Ich – Axel Cäsar Springer'', depicting the media magnate as the puppet of a secretive, post-war Nazi cabal. At the same time, the East Germans were so impressed by the seeming power of ''Bild'' that between 1957 to 1973 they attempted, with different tabloid formats, to sell their own their ''NEUE Bild Zeitung'' to West Germans crossing the border. Springer's efforts, which his writers may have understood as a general means of discrediting the Social Democrats, were unavailing. Blue-collar workers who formed the core of Bild's now declining readership (down 800,000 by 1972) voted for Brandt regardless. Significantly Springer, who had always cited the "poll" at the newspaper and magazine kiosk (''Abstimmung am Kiosk'') as the ultimate justification for his journalism, no matter how controversial, proved willing to adjust. He moved, or parted company with, those in his employ who had been attacking Brandt from ever more extreme right-wing positions. Among these were, Peter Boenisch, chief editor at ''Bild''; and ''
Welt am Sonntag Welt, welts or variants may refer to: Media * ''Die Welt'' (''The World''), a German national newspaper ** ''Welt am Sonntag'' (''World on Sunday''), the Sunday edition of ''Die Welt'' * ''Die Welt (Herzl), Die Welt'', former weekly newspaper in ...
'' columnist
Willi Schlamm William S. (Willi) Schlamm (originally Wilhelm Siegmund Schlamm, June 10, 1904 – September 1, 1978) was an Austrian-American journalist. Biography Schlamm was born into an upper middle class Jewish family in Przemyśl, Galicia, in the Austrian ...
(a former Austrian Communist and an American John Bircher). Once it was clear that the
Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...
would not reverse course on recognition, ''Bild'' did begin, albeit in quotation marks, to refer to East Germany as the GDR (the
German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
). From August 1971 Günter Prinz, Boenisch's successor at ''Bild,'' restored the paper's circulation by returning to a less politically charged "mix of sex, facts und fiction


Brandt's ''Kniefall von Warschau''

Springer's son, Axel Springer Jr. (1941–1980), was the photographer and journalist "Sven Simon", and was for a period chief editor of ''
Welt am Sonntag Welt, welts or variants may refer to: Media * ''Die Welt'' (''The World''), a German national newspaper ** ''Welt am Sonntag'' (''World on Sunday''), the Sunday edition of ''Die Welt'' * ''Die Welt (Herzl), Die Welt'', former weekly newspaper in ...
''. In 1980, at the age of 38, he took his own life. He is perhaps best remembered for his iconic picture of Kniefall von Warschau, Willi Brandt kneeling on 7 December 1970 before the memorial to Ghetto Uprising in Warsaw. The occasion of Brandt's visit to Poland was the signing of the Treaty of Warsaw between
West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
and
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. This recognised the Oder-Neisse Line as Germany's final frontier in the east and, on that basis, established diplomatic relations between the Federal Republic and the People's Republic of Poland. Writing himself in ''Die Welt'', Springer expressed outrage that a democratically elected German government should license a Communist regime in its annexation of a quarter of the country. In ''Bild,'' Boenisch remarked that, while Brandt attempted "kneel away" the crimes of the Nazis, the victims of his Stalinist hosts were being made to kneel by rifle butts to the groin.


Friend of Israel

Springer's journalism did not explore the history of the Nazi-era in the manner of ''Der Spiegel'' or ''Stern''. Bild editor-in-chief Rudolf Michael (1952–58) was against "educating the readers". Nevertheless, under Karl-Heinz Hagen (1960–62) the newspaper began, sensationally as was its wont, to report on trials of Nazi war criminals, including in 1961 the Jerusalem trial of Adolf Eichmann. This was at a time when surveys suggested that only every second West German supported the prosecutions; that a third wished an end to the discussion of the
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
regime; and that 73% regarded Jews as "a different race". Next to post-war Chancellor
Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...
, it has been said that "no German played a more significant role in the effort to repair his country's burdened relationship with the Jews, and to ensure its support for their state, than Axel Springer." It was a cause to which, as early as 1957, he dedicated his newspapers editorially and to which he made his own personal contributions. As had Adenauer in the wake of his 1952 Reparations Agreement, Springer found that in Israel "German money" was not universally welcome. During his first visit to Israel in 1966, Springer proposed a donation of 3.6 million Deutsche marks ($900,000) to The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, which would name an auditorium in his honor. Protesters took to the streets, and the Israeli newspaper ''
LaMerhav ''LaMerhav'' () was a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel between 1954 and 1971. Springer returned to Jerusalem on 10 June 1967, to celebrate, in the company of Viennese-born mayor
Teddy Kollek Theodor "Teddy" Kollek ( he, טדי קולק; 27 May 1911 – 2 January 2007) was an Israeli politician who served as the mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 197 ...
, the conquest of the Old City in the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
. He had ordered his newspapers to cover the war obsessively and with an unapologetically pro-Israel bias, later joking that he had simply published Israeli newspapers in German. "The Israelis", he commented on the front page of Bild, "have the right to live in peace without permanent new Arab blackmails."


Honors

Springer received honorary degrees from
Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...
in
Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...
(1974), and the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
(1976). In 1977 he received the American Friendship Medal. In 1978, he was awarded the inaugural
Leo Baeck Medal The Leo Baeck Medal has been awarded since 1978 by the Leo Baeck Institute of New York City, an international research institute devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. It is the highest recognition the Institute b ...
. In 1985, he received the gold medal of the Jewish service organisation
B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...
. In 1981,
Franz Josef Strauss Franz Josef Strauss ( ; 6 September 1915 – 3 October 1988) was a German politician. He was the long-time chairman of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) from 1961 until 1988, member of the federal cabinet in different positions betwee ...
presented Springer the Konrad Adenauer Freedom Prize in recognition of his contribution to the foundation of a liberal press system, his commitment to the reunification of Germany in peace and freedom, and his exemplary activity in support of reconciliation between German and Jewish people.


Death

Springer died in
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
in 1985. His heiress is his fifth (and last) wife
Friede Springer Friede Springer (born Friede Riewerts on 15 August 1942 in Oldsum on the island of Föhr) is a German publisher and widow of Axel Springer. She is the main owner of the Axel Springer SE media conglomerate, and thus of Europe's largest newspaper ' ...
(born 1942) who, 30 years Springer's junior, had been his son's nanny. In 1971, Springer published a collection of his speeches and essays: ''Von Berlin aus gesehen. Zeugnisse eines engagierten Deutschen'' Seewald Verlag, Hamburg).


See also

*
William Denholm Barnetson William Denholm Barnetson, Baron Barnetson (born 21 March 1917, Edinburgh – 12 March 1981, Westminster, London) was a newspaper proprietor and television executive. Early life and education He was educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Springer, Axel 1912 births 1985 deaths Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German newspaper chain founders German newspaper founders 20th-century German newspaper publishers (people) German mass media owners People from Altona, Hamburg Businesspeople from Berlin 20th-century German journalists German male journalists German journalists Axel Springer SE Axel Bild people German Zionists