Leopold Sonnemann on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Leopold Sonnemann (29 October 1831 – 30 October 1909) was a journalist, newspaper publisher, and political party leader in 
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
during the periods of the North German Confederation
The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...
and the German Empire
The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. Publisher and editor of 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 controlle ...
'', Sonnemann also served as a deputy to the Reichstag and was a founding member of the German People's Party
The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...
.
Career
Leopold Sonnemann was born to Jewish parents inHöchberg
Höchberg is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Würzburg (district), Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany. Höchberg borders, in the east, directly on the city of Würzburg. Höchberg consists of two main urban areas: Altort an ...
, Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
, in 1831.Tuttle, p. 194. Well-educated in his youth, he became an astute businessman and organizer. He built upon his family business and amassed enough wealth by 1856 to purchase a Bavarian market publication, the ''Neue Frankfurter Zeitung''. Rechristening it to simply ''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 controlle ...
'', Sonnemann devoted himself wholeheartedly to the paper as owner, editor, and contributing writer. The paper developed an influential position in the business community of southern Germany.
Sonnemann was an active organizer and an effective orator. Though he could be clinically described as a social democrat
Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...
, Sonnemann projected a highly individualized political presence which was regarded by contemporaries as somewhat esoteric. He helped to found the German People's Party
The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...
in 1868 and, from 1871, served as its first delegate to the Reichstag.
Legacy
The ''Frankfurter Zeitung'' was kept running by Sonnemann's coterie, providing an alternative national media outlet for the German left. It survived precariously after the Nazi assumption of power, but was finally acquired by a subsidiary of the Nazi publishing organ,Eher Verlag
Franz Eher Nachfolger GmbH (''Franz Eher and Successors, LLC'', usually referred to as the Eher-Verlag (''Eher Publishing'')) was the central publishing house of the Nazi Party and one of the largest book and periodical firms during the Third Rei ...
, in 1938, and ultimately closed by Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's orders in August, 1943.
References
Further reading
* Schnädelbach, Anna (German, 2009). ''Frankfurts demokratische Moderne und Leopold Sonnemann: Jude, Verleger, Politiker, Mäzen.'' Frankfurt: Societäts-Verlag. .External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonnemann, Leopold 19th-century German newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century German newspaper publishers (people) 1831 births 1909 deaths Burials at the Old Jewish Cemetery, Frankfurt