Ferdinand Simoneit (14 June 1925;

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

– 3 April 2010;

Löffingen Löffingen is a town in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km southwest of Donaueschingen, and 40 km southeast of Freiburg. Sons and daughters of the town * Rene D Egle (born 196 ...

) was a German journalist, author, professor and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

Life

During the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

he was a '' Panzersoldat'' and seriously wounded on the Eastern Front. As a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

he later came into British internment. After the war he was a port and construction worker and studied architecture in Duisburg. As a journalist he was the rapporteur from Moscow and New Delhi. In 1953, he undertook a journalism apprenticeship at the ''

Rheinische Post ''Rheinische Post'' is a major German regional daily newspaper published since 1946 by the ''Rheinische Post Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH'' company, and headquartered in Düsseldorf. The Post is especially dominant in the western part of North Rhine- ...

''. In 1955, working for ''

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 ...

'', Simoneit was the first German journalist to visit the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, at the same time becoming the magazine's travel

correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for the entire East. During his time with Der Spiegel he also had more than 25 cover stories to his credit as well as interviews with

Heinrich Nordhoff Heinz Heinrich Nordhoff (6 January 1899 – 12 April 1968) was a German engineer who led the Volkswagen company as it was rebuilt after World War II. Life and career Nordhoff was born in Hildesheim, the son of a banker. He graduated from the Tech ...

, SPD politician Georg Leber,

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 ...

Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...

and

Henry Ford II Henry Ford II (September 4, 1917 – September 29, 1987), sometimes known as "Hank the Deuce", was an American businessman in the automotive industry. He was the oldest son of Edsel Ford I and oldest grandson of Henry Ford I. He was president ...

. A highlight of his career as an author came in 1966/67 with his second book, Die neuen Bosse, which for two weeks occupied top position of the

best sellers' list. From 1971 to 1974 he was chief editor of the business magazine

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

. In 1975, he became a board member and editorial director with the ''Motor Presse Stuttgart'' and founded several magazines (including " "Motor Klassik"). Between 1975 and 1982 he edited the company's leading magazine,

Auto, Motor und Sport ''Auto Motor und Sport'', often stylized as auto motor und sport and abbreviated AMS or AMuS, is a German automobile magazine. It is published fortnightly by Motor Presse Netzwerk's subsidiary Motor Presse Stuttgart, a specialist magazine publish ...

which successfully broadened its scope under his direction and had, by 1985, increased its sales to 522,045 copies.Auflagen der Publikumszeitschriften (IVW)
bei pz-online.de From 1978 he was a lecturer in journalism at the University of

Hohenheim Hohenheim () is one of 18 outer quarters of the city of Stuttgart in the borough of Plieningen that sits on the Filder in central Baden-Württemberg. It was founded in 1782. Geography Hohenheim sits on the Filder, a large and fertile plateau i ...

and in 1988 professor of the

University of Hohenheim The University of Hohenheim (german: Universität Hohenheim) is a campus university located in the south of Stuttgart, Germany. Founded in 1818, it is Stuttgart's oldest university. Its primary areas of specialisation had traditionally been ...

and chief editor of the Hohenheim environmental journal. He was also the founder and first director of the Georg von Holtzbrinck school for business journalists in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

and leading member of the media academy in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. He also was a lecturer in journalism at the University of

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

, teacher of the volunteers of the

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, journalism adviser for

DaimlerChrysler The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufacture ...

, Laser-Leibinger, Dekra, Vogel-Verlag and Gong-Verlag, advisory board member of Mercedes Group magazine, career advisor for the student organization

AIESEC AIESEC is an international youth-run, non-governmental and not-for-profit organization that provides young people with leadership development, cross-cultural internships, and global volunteer exchange experiences. The organization focuses on emp ...

and several other positions. He also was European correspondent for the South American news magazines ''Progress''. In 1995, he was the ''laudator'' at the

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

Award.

Publications

Books

* 1963: ''Ta Ta Tan Tan. Die Wirklichkeit Rotchinas.'' Econ Düsseldorf (Mitautor) * 1966: ''Die neuen Bosse oder So wird man Generaldirektor.'' Econ Düsseldorf (Wirtschaftsbuch) * 1980: ''Die Rosenthalstory.'' Econ Düsseldorf (Kunstbuch) * 1985: ''Indiskretion Ehrensache.'' Ullstein München (Journalistenbuch) * 1989: ''... mehr als der Tod.'' Ullstein München (Kriegsroman) * 1993: ''Mein Freund ist ein lackierter Kampfhund.'' Lübbeverlag Berg Gladbach (zur Verteidigung des Autos) * 1995: ''49 Köpfe der deutschen Wirtschaft.'' Schäffer & Pöschel Verlag Stuttgart (Herausgeber) (Wirtschaftsbuch)

Reports

* Das Geheimnis von Wolfsburg. Im geheimen Entwicklungszentrum von Volkswagen. (Spiegel) * Besuch an der Pferdebrücke. In einer Kommune in Rotchina. (Spiegel) * Denkfabrik Weissach (das Entwicklungszentrum von Porsche) * Interview mit ehemaligem Mercedes Cargroupchef Hubbert (Playboy) * Im Tal des Todes. Autotest in Death Valley/Kalifornien. * Warten in Tadjemout. Leben in einer verlassenen Sahara-Oase. * Eiskalt am Eismeer bei minus 40 Grad am Ende der Welt. * Zwei Iltisse in der Wüste, auf Versuchsfahrt in der Sahara. * Taxi nach Singapur. 500 km durch den Urwald von Malaysia. * Weltmeister. Was sonst? Wie junge Männer ihre Karriere als Rennfahrer planen.

Publications about Simoneit

* Alles über Simoneit (Die Volontäre der Motor Presse über ihren Lehr-Herrn) * Das war's (Die Schüler der Georg von Holtzbrinck- Schule über ihren Ausbilder) * betr. Simoneit. Hausmitteilung im Spiegel über Simoneit * Heinrich Nordhoff, K.A. Schenzinger, H. Simon und A.Zischka, Wilhelm Andermann Verlag, München

Notable students

Norbert Haug Norbert Friedrich Haug (born 24 November 1952) is a German journalist and the former vice president of Mercedes-Benz motorsport activity, including Formula One, Formula 3 and DTM. Under his direction, Mercedes-Benz enjoyed considerable succes ...

(Vice president Motorsport) * ''

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Du ...

'':

Gabor Steingart Gabor Steingart (born 1962 in West Berlin) is a German journalist and the author of several popular and influential books. He was the chief editor of ''Handelsblatt'' from 2010 to 2018. In 2018, he founded his own media company that issues new ...

(Editor in Chief since 1 June 2010) * ''

Stuttgarter Zeitung The ''Stuttgarter Zeitung'' ("Stuttgart newspaper") is a German-language daily newspaper (except Sundays) edited in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a run of about 200,000 sold copies daily. History and profile It was first edited ...

'': Joachim Dorfs (Editor in Chief)

Sources and further reading

Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simoneit, Ferdinand 1925 births 2010 deaths German journalists German male journalists Academic staff of the University of Hohenheim Military personnel from Duisburg People from the Rhine Province German male writers German prisoners of war in World War II held by the Soviet Union Der Spiegel people German magazine editors German military personnel of World War II