Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann (19 December 1916 – 25 March 2010) was a German

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

. Her most famous contribution is the model of the

spiral of silence The spiral of silence theory is a political science and mass communication theory proposed by the German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. It states that an individual's perception of the distribution of public opinion influences tha ...

, detailed in ''The Spiral of Silence: Public Opinion – Our Social Skin''. The model is an explanation of how perceived

public opinion Public opinion is the collective opinion on a specific topic or voting intention relevant to a society. It is the people's views on matters affecting them. Etymology The term "public opinion" was derived from the French ', which was first use ...

can influence individual opinions or actions.

Biography

Elisabeth Noelle was born to Ernst and Eve Noelle in 1916 in the Villa Noelle in Grunewald, a suburb of Berlin. First Elisabeth went to several schools in Berlin and then switched to the prestigious Salem Castle School, which she also left one year later. She earned her

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen ye ...

in 1935 in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

and then studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

, and

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Schol ...

at the Friedrich Wilhelm University, and the

Königsberg Albertina University Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

. When she visited

Obersalzberg Obersalzberg is a mountainside retreat situated above the market town of Berchtesgaden in Bavaria, Germany. Located about south-east of Munich, close to the border with Austria, it is best known as the site of Adolf Hitler's former mountain resi ...

on 13 June 1937 with 23 other students, she by chance had an encounter with

Adolf 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 the ...

, which she later called "one of the most intensive and strangest experiences in her life".Markus Clauer: ''Zwischen Prognose und Macht. Zum Tode von Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann.'' In: ''Die Rheinpfalz.'' 26 March 2010. As can be read in a newspaper article in the National Socialist student newspaper " Die Bewegung", a group of ANSt students travelled to the Obersalzberg to see Hitler and felt lucky when they were actually received and even invited for coffee. The doctoral student Petra Umlauf also came to this conclusion in her dissertation “Die Studentinnen der Universität München 1926 to 1945”. The group photo shows an enthusiastic and friendly-looking Elisabeth Noelle directly behind Adolf Hitle

She stayed in the US from 1937 to 1938 and studied at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

. There she was registered as a "special student". Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann claimed countless times that she studied journalism for one year. But "special students" were not admitted to the Schools of Journalism, Law, or Medicine. In 1940 she received her Ph.D. in Berlin/Germany, concentrating on public opinion research in the USA. In 1940 she briefly worked for the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

newspaper '' Das Reich''. On 8 June 1941 ''Das Reich'' published Noelle-Neumann's article entitled "Who Informs America?" in which she propagated the idea that a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish syndicate ran the American media. She wrote, "Jews write in the papers, own them, have virtually monopolize the advertising agencies and can therefore open and shut the gates of advertising income as they wish." She was fired when she exchanged unfavourable photos of Franklin D. Roosevelt for better looking ones. She then worked for the ''

Frankfurter Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Zeitung'' () was a German-language newspaper that appeared from 1856 to 1943. It emerged from a market letter that was published in Frankfurt. In Nazi Germany, it was considered the only mass publication not completely controll ...

'' until it was banned in 1943. In 1947 she and her first husband Erich Peter Neumann founded a

public opinion research An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

organization—the '' Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach'', which today is one of the best known and most prestigious polling organizations in Germany. She, along with her husband, created the first German opinion-polling body. From 1964 to 1983 she held a professorate at the

Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 s ...

. Noelle-Neumann was the president of the

World Association for Public Opinion Research The World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) is an international professional association of researchers in the field of survey research. It is a member organization of the International Science Council. History Established in 194 ...

from 1978 to 1980 and worked as a guest

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professo ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

from 1978 to 1991.

Important work

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann coined the term

.This theory explains how people's opinions change or go unspoken in order to fit in with popular ideologies and avoid being singled out for holding opposing Ideologies. Due to the lack of human agency and

rationality Rationality is the quality of being guided by or based on reasons. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ab ...

, which the theory does not account for, this theory has received mixed reviews. The top of the

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Leo Bogart criticized Noelle-Neumann, accusing her of anti-Semitic passages in her dissertation and articles she wrote for Nazi newspapers. As a young woman, she had "superb credentials as an activist and leader" of Nazi youth and students' organizations, he wrote. In fact, when she published her 1940 dissertation in Germany, entitled "Opinion and mass research in the USA", having spent a year at the

researching

George Gallup George Horace Gallup (November 18, 1901 – July 26, 1984) was an American pioneer of survey sampling techniques and inventor of the Gallup poll, a successful statistical method of survey sampling for measuring public opinion. Life and caree ...

's methodology,

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the '' Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to ...

called the 24-year-old woman as an adjutant and intended her to build up, for the ministry of propaganda, Germany's first public opinion research organization. She declined, having fallen ill, which angered Goebbels; she later became a newspaper journalist with Nazi publications where she wrote some articles on Jewish influence over U.S. news and elite opinion. Bogart's article appeared just weeks before Noelle-Neumann took up a visiting position in the Political Science Department at the

, where she had held similar appointments since 1978. Michael Kochin, then a graduate student at the university, noticed the article and circulated it on campus prior to her arrival, igniting a vigorous debate on Noelle-Neumann's past. While the administration and students at the university, the local Jewish defense groups, and Chicago newspapers remained disengaged from the issue, John J. Mearsheimer, then chairman of the university's political science department, spoke with Bogart, met for over three hours with Noelle-Neumann, and called a departmental meeting about her on 16 October. Some at the university claimed Noelle-Neumann was being slandered, and Mearsheimer's colleagues were not of one opinion about the case. Mearsheimer, however, widely publicized his views concerning the allegations themselves and as they related to academic freedom and opposition to bigotry. "I believe Noelle-Neumann was an anti-Semite," Mearsheimer stated, "and was not forced to write the anti-Semitic words she published. Moreover, I believe that the anti-Semitic writers and publicists of Germany – to include Noelle-Neumann – jointly share some responsibility for the Holocaust. For this she owes an apology." "The thing to remember about the killing of the Jews," he said, "is that it was not done by a handful of people. … It was also a result of the Reich of normal – or of average – German citizens. Like Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann." In private letters and in written responses, Noelle-Neumann acknowledged being in a Nazi student organization but denied being a Nazi. "I am anguished by the suffering of Jews in Nazi Germany," she wrote. Bogart, Mearsheimer and others remained dissatisfied with her response. Noelle-Neumann completed her visiting position in Chicago in mid-December 1991 and returned to Germany. When some University of Chicago students learned that she was to return there on 13 March 1992, they called a rally to protest against her return. Reached by telephone at her office in Allensbach am Bodensee, Germany, on 10 March, Noelle-Neumann told a reporter she was unaware of the proposed rally but intended on coming to the university as planned. That day, her hosts at the

National Opinion Research Center NORC at the University of Chicago is one of the largest independent social research organizations in the United States. Established in 1941 as the National Opinion Research Center, its corporate headquarters is located in downtown Chicago, with o ...

announced that she had cancelled her appearance "in light of serious threats". Several years later, Noelle-Neumann's Nazi connection came under scrutiny from another American academic, but she never explicitly apologized for her past. Interviewed on the subject in 1997, she said, "I did my duty and would do my duty again in a second life. I'd even say I was proud of what I did back then because I opposed the Nazis by working from within." John Mearsheimer, Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago wrote in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on 16 December 1991:

"She has admitted she was not hostile to the Nazis before 1940. She says she was anti-Nazi after 1940, but has produced no evidence that she criticized the Nazis then. She wrote anti-Semitic words in 1938–41, and there is no evidence she was compelled to write them. Queried on her anti-Semitic writings, she told me: "I have never written anything in my life that I did not believe to be true."

Personal life

She was married to the

Christian Democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democrati ...

politician Erich Peter Neumann (1912–1973) from 1946 until his death. She was married to the physicist

Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (28 March 1911, in Esslingen am Neckar – 16 December 2000, in Allensbach) was a German physicist. He made contributions to nuclear spectroscopy, coincidence measurement techniques, radioactive tracers for biochemistry and m ...

(1911–2000) from 1979 until his death. In an interview in the German newspaper ''

Der Tagesspiegel ''Der Tagesspiegel'' (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington D.C. and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, ...

'', Noelle-Neumann said that while holding a scientific point of view, she also believed in

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

s and

predestination Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby ...

.„Ich habe die Engel gesehen" (i.e. "I beheld the angels.")
/ref>

Awards

*Commander's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(1976) *

Alexander Rüstow Alexander Rüstow (8 April 1885 – 30 June 1963) was a German sociologist and economist. In 1938 he originated the term neoliberalism at the Colloque Walter Lippmann. He was one of the fathers of the " Social Market Economy" that shaped the eco ...

Medal (1978) *

Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg (german: link=no, Verdienstorden des Landes Baden-Württemberg) is the highest award of the German State of Baden-Württemberg. Established 26 November 1974, it was originally called the Medal of Merit of Bad ...

(1990) *

Helen Dinerman Helen Schneider Dinerman (December 25, 1920 – August 14, 1974) was an American sociologist and public opinion researcher. Biography Born in New York City in 1920, Dinerman received her education at Hunter College and Columbia University. ...

Award (issued by

WAPOR The World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR) is an international professional association of researchers in the field of survey research. It is a member organization of the International Science Council. History Established in 19 ...

; 1990) * Gerhard Löwenthal Prize, honorary prize (issued by

Junge Freiheit The ''Junge Freiheit'' (JF, "Young Freedom") is a German weekly newspaper on politics and culture that was established in 1986. It has been described as conservative, right-wing, nationalistic and as the "ideological supply ship of right-wing pop ...

; 2006)

Literature

* Esther Priwer:
Nazi exchange students at the University of Missouri
In: The Menorah Journal, 1938, vol. 26, issue 3, Page 353-361
Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann as Nazi propagandist in US newspapers, 1938

Websites

The Noelle-Neumann Archive
(contemporary documents, newspaper clippings and other archive resources about Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noelle-Neumann, Elisabeth 1916 births 2010 deaths 20th-century scientists 20th-century German writers German journalists German political scientists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Nazi propagandists Writers from Berlin University of Chicago faculty University of Göttingen alumni University of Königsberg alumni Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz faculty University of Missouri alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty German women academics 20th-century German women writers Women in Nazi Germany Alumni of Schule Schloss Salem Women political scientists