Journalists between Hitler and Adenauer : from inner emigration to the moral reconstruction of West Germany / Volker R. Berghahn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berghahn, Volker R. (Volker Rolf), 1938- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dönhoff, Marion, Gräfin.

Dönhoff, Marion.

Sethe, Paul, 1901-1967.

Sethe, Paul.

Zehrer, Hans.

Journalism--Political aspects--Germany--20th century.

Journalism.

Journalistic ethics--Germany--History--20th century.

Journalistic ethics.

History.

Journalism--Political aspects.

Germany.

Physical Description:

vii, 277 pages : portraits ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2019]

Summary:

Journalists between Hitler and Adenauer takes an in-depth look at German journalism from the late Weimar period through the postwar decades. Illuminating the roles played by journalists in the media metropolis of Hamburg, Volker Berghahn focuses on the lives and work of three remarkable individuals: Marion Countess D nhoff, distinguished editor of Die Zeit; Paul Sethe, "the grand old man of West German journalism"; and Hans Zehrer, editor in chief of Die Welt. All born before 1914, Dönhoff, Sethe, and Zehrer witnessed the Weimar Republic's end and opposed Hitler. When the latter seized power in 1933, they were, like their fellow Germans, confronted with the difficult choice of entering exile, becoming part of the active resistance, or joining the Nazi Party. Instead, they followed a fourth path--"inner emigration" - psychologically distancing themselves from the regime, their writing falling into a gray zone between grudging collaboration and active resistance. During the war, Dönhoff and Sethe had links to the 1944 conspiracy to kill Hitler, while Zehrer remained out of sight on a North Sea island. In the decades after 1945, all three became major figures in the West German media. Berghahn considers how these journalists and those who chose inner emigration interpreted Germany's horrific past and how they helped to morally and politically shape the reconstruction of the country.0With fresh archival materials, Journalists between Hitler and Adenauer sheds essential light on the influential position of the German media in the mid-twentieth century and raises questions about modern journalism that remain topical today.

Contents:

1 Paul Sethe: Resistance and Its Post-Hitler Moral and Journalistic Consequences p. 26

Family and Academic Training p. 26

Writing for the Ohligser Anzeiger and the Crisis of the Weimar Republic p. 30

Sethe's Politics and Journalism during 1932-1933 p. 31

Maneuvering in the Early Days of the Nazi Regime p. 37

Serving as Editor at Frankfurter Zeitung p. 45

On the Fringes of the Anti-Nazi Resistance p. 53

Flight from Berlin and Early Postwar Search for a New Career p. 57

Founding the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung p. 61

Tensions over the FAZ's Political Orientation and Freedom of Expression p. 66

Joining Axel Springer's Die Welt p. 73

Sethe's Separation from Springer and Move to Der Stem and Die Zeit p. 77

2 The Intellectual Journey of Marion Countess Dönhoff p. 85

Family Life and Career in Times of Peace and War p. 87

Anti-Nazi Resistance and the July 1944 Plot to Kill Hitler p. 94

Flight to West Germany, Mourning, and Defending the Anti-Nazi Resistance p. 97

Pondering Her Lost Heimat and the Idea of a Reunified Germany p. 110

Marion Dönhoff's Atlanticism and Its Networks p. 116

Her "Prussian" Values and Critique of the Evolution of Capitalism p. 120

3 Hans Zehrer's Intellectual Journey from Weimar Berlin to Postwar Hamburg: Struggling with Past and Present, 1923-1966 p. 129

The Larger Setting of Weimar Politics p. 129

Family Background and Early Career p. 132

Shaping Die Tat into a Major Voice of the Authoritarian Anti-Nazi Right p. 134

The Establishment of the Hitler Regime p. 143

Surviving the Hitler Dictatorship on the North Sea Island of Sylt p. 149

Zehrer's Search for a Postwar Career and Return to Die Welt p. 155

The Springer-Zehrer Interventions in International Politics p. 161

Zehrer's Slow Demise within the Springer Media Empire p. 165

Stille vor dem Sturm as the Sum Total of Zehrer's Weltanschauung p. 170

4 Hanseatic Journalism, and Its Networks p. 183

Newspapers and Politics in Early Postwar West Germany p. 183

The Origins of Axel Springer's Press Empire p. 186

Gerd Bucerius: Family Background and Postwar Media and Political Ambitions p. 191

The Acquisition of Der Stern and Die Zeit p. 195

Bucerius and the Transformation of His Two Liberal Weeklies p. 200

Rudolf Augstein's Rise and the Role of Der Spiegel in West German Politics p. 204

The Spiegel Affair and Its Consequences p. 211

Conclusion: Freedom of Expression in the Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Centuries p. 216.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0691179638

9780691179636

OCLC:

1032358266