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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
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
s, founder and part-owner 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 ...
'' magazine. As a politician, he was a member of the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
for the
Free Democratic Party of Germany The Free Democratic Party (german: link=no, Freie Demokratische Partei; FDP, ) is a liberal political party in Germany. The FDP was founded in 1948 by members of former liberal political parties which existed in Germany before World War II, ...
(FDP) between November 1972 and January 1973.


Life and career

Born in
Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
, Germany, he was a radio operator and artillery observer in the ''Heer'' (the
German Army The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwa ...
) during World War II. By war's end, he held the rank of '' Leutnant der Reserve'' (reserve officer). He founded ''Der Spiegel'' in 1946/1947, which became (and still is) the most important investigative weekly
magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinati ...
in Germany. During the ''Spiegel'' affair of 1961-62, he was arrested and jailed for 103 days, until
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 ...
was forced to resign as Minister of Defense under continuing protest from the public and the resignation of the FDP cabinet members. Augstein became a member of the West German parliament the ''
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...
'' in 1972 for the Free Democrats for
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabi ...
, but resigned only a year later, to focus on his duties as a journalist. It has been speculated that he considered himself much more influential with his magazine than he ever was in the legislature. An amateur
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
, Augstein published several successful books, among them ''Preußens Friedrich und die Deutschen'' (1981, ), ''Otto von Bismarck'' (1990, ), and, about his lifetime opponent, ''Überlebensgroß Herr Strauß. Ein Spiegelbild'' (1983, ). During the ''
Historikerstreit The ''Historikerstreit'' (, "historians' dispute") was a dispute in the late 1980s in West Germany between conservative and left-of-center academics and other intellectuals about how to incorporate Nazi Germany and the Holocaust into German hist ...
'' of 1986-1987, Augstein was fierce in his criticism of
Ernst Nolte Ernst Nolte (11 January 1923 – 18 August 2016) was a German historian and philosopher. Nolte's major interest was the comparative studies of fascism and communism (cf. Comparison of Nazism and Stalinism). Originally trained in philosophy, he w ...
and
Andreas Hillgruber Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (18 January 1925 – 8 May 1989) was a conservative German historian who was influential as a military and diplomatic historian who played a leading role in the ''Historikerstreit'' of the 1980s. In his controversial book ...
for creating what Augstein called the "New Auschwitz Lie".Augstein, Rudolf "The New Auschwitz Lie" ''("Die neue Auschwitz-Lüge")'' pages 131-134 from ''Forever In The Shadow of Hitler?'' edited by Ernst Piper, Humanities Press, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, 1993 pages 133-134 A controversial statement by Augstein was his description of Hillgruber as a "constitutional Nazi".Augstein, Rudolf "The New Auschwitz Lie" pages 131-134 from ''Forever In The Shadow of Hitler?'' edited by Ernst Piper, Humanities Press, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, 1993 page 131 Augstein called for Hillgruber to be fired from his post at the University of Cologne for being a "constitutional Nazi", and argued that there was no moral difference between Hillgruber and other "constitutional Nazis" like
Hans Globke Hans Josef Maria Globke (10 September 1898 – 13 February 1973) was a German administrative lawyer, who worked in the Prussian and Reich Ministry of the Interior in the Reich, during the Weimar Republic and the time of National Socialism and wa ...
. Augstein wrote in opposition to Nolte that:
Not for nothing did Nolte let us know that the annihilation of the kulaks, the peasant middle class, had taken place from 1927 to 1930, ''before'' Hitler seized power, and that the destruction of the Old Bolsheviks and countless other victims of Stalin's insanity had happened between 1934 and 1938, ''before'' the beginning of Hitler's war. But Stalin's insanity was, in contrast to Hitler's insanity, a realist's insanity. After all this drivel comes one thing worth discussing: whether Stalin pumped up Hitler and whether Hitler pumped up Stalin. This can be discussed, but the discussion does not address the issue. It is indeed possible that Stalin was pleased by how Hitler treated his bosom buddy
Ernst Röhm Ernst Julius Günther Röhm (; 28 November 1887 – 1 July 1934) was a German military officer and an early member of the Nazi Party. As one of the members of its predecessor, the German Workers' Party, he was a close friend and early ally ...
and the entire SA leadership in 1934. It is not possible that Hitler began his war against Poland because he felt threatened by Stalin's regime ... One does not have to agree in everything with
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 ...
. But in the light of the crass tendency to deny the co-responsibility of the Prussian-German Wehrmacht ("The oath! The oath!") ones gains an understanding for the point of the view of the nonpatriot Adenauer that Hitler's ''Reich'' was the continuation of the Prussian-German regime
Since
Stefan Aust Stefan Aust (; born 1 July 1946) is a German journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of the weekly news magazine ''Der Spiegel'' from 1994 to February 2008 and has been the publisher of the conservative leading ''Die Welt'' newspaper since 2014 ...
became editor-in-chief of ''Der Spiegel,'' Augstein retreated more and more to private life, although he continued to publish commentaries regularly in the magazine almost until his death. For his lifetime achievements for peace, civil liberties and
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerci ...
he was honoured with the title "Journalist of the century" in 2000 by 101 German journalists. Augstein was among the
International Press Institute International Press Institute (IPI) is a global organisation dedicated to the promotion and protection of press freedom and the improvement of journalism practices. The institution was founded by 34 editors from 15 countries at Columbia Universit ...
's 50 World Press Freedom Hero laureates in 2000 for his role in the ''Spiegel'' affair.Laudatory submission for Hero of World Press Freedom Award
Rudolf Augstein
Augstein married five times: including Maria Carlsson, a German translator, from 1968 until their divorce in 1970. The couple had two children; Franziska Augstein and
Jakob Augstein Jakob Augstein (born 28 July 1967) is a German heir, journalist and publisher. Life and career Augstein was born in Hamburg. He grew up as the son of Maria Carlsson, translator, and Rudolf Augstein, publisher of Germany's leading news magazi ...
. His fifth marriage, solemnized in Tonder on 13 October 2000, was to his long-standing companion, the Hamburg
art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationsh ...
Anna Maria Hürtgen.Leute: Rudolf Augstein heiratet Anna Maria Hürtgen
in ''Der Tagesspiegel'' vom 13. Oktober 2000
He died on 7 November 2002 from pneumonia and was buried on the island of
Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is th ...
.


References


Further reading

* . * (reviews at JSTOR
The American Historical ReviewThe Western Political Quarterly
. * Cowell, Alan. "Rudolf Augstein, Publisher of Der Spiegel, Is Dead at 79." ''New York Times'' 11 August 2002, Vol. 152 Issue 52296, p C11. * . * . * Haase, Christian. "The German Mass Media in the Twentieth Century", ''European History Quarterly'' (July 2010), 40#3 pp 484–492. * Landler, Mark. ''Der Spiegel Family Sees a Threat in Growing Corporate Control.'' ''New York Times''. 10 November 2004, Vol. 154 Issue 52999, pC1-C9; Augstein's children lose control of the mnagazine. * Ridley, Hugh. "The Spiegel Affair." In ''Law in West German Democracy'' (Brill, 2019) pp. 130–145.


External links


Biography at "Lebendiges virtuelles Museum online"
(in German, also used as a reference) {{DEFAULTSORT:Augstein, Rudolf 1923 births 2002 deaths German Army officers of World War II Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German male journalists 20th-century German journalists German magazine founders Members of the Bundestag for North Rhine-Westphalia Writers from Hanover Deaths from pneumonia in Germany People from the Province of Hanover German male writers Der Spiegel editors German mass media owners Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany)