The founder of the news magazine "Spiegel" fought for his convictions all his life. In 1962, Rudolf Augstein even went to prison for freedom of the press. He died in Hamburg in 2002.
"I never had trouble being against anything. I had more trouble being for something," Rudolf Augstein once said. This critical view of politics and society determined the life of the journalist and founder of the news magazine "Der Spiegel". The publisher, who died in 2002, shaped the journalistic landscape of the Federal Republic like no other. In an obituary, former Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher (FDP) praised him as a man "without whom our country would look different - less free and less open".
Rudolf Augstein:A critical student
Rudolf Augstein was born on November 5, 1923 in Hanover. He is the sixth of seven children of the photo merchant Friedrich Augstein. Even as a schoolboy he was interested in politics - and showed civil courage:in a school essay from 1940 he doubted the "final German victory" in World War II. After graduating from high school and completing a traineeship at the "Hannoverschesanzeiger", Augstein was first drafted into labor service and in 1942 into military service. He was wounded on the Eastern Front and was briefly taken prisoner by the Americans in 1945.
After the war, the young journalist returned to his hometown of Hanover and started working for the news magazine "This Week". The paper is run by British press officers, but the tone is becoming too critical for the military government. She wants to get rid of it. Augstein acquires the license and publishes the magazine on January 4, 1947 under the title "Der Spiegel" - as publisher and editor-in-chief.
"Der Spiegel" as a self-propelled gun of democracy
In 1952 Augstein moved to Hamburg with the magazine. The magazine's critical attitude soon became a thorn in the side of many politicians. Augstein himself sees "Spiegel" as "democracy's assault gun":its editors search, dig, uncover. A report about the Bundeswehr triggers the "Spiegel" affair in 1962. Augstein has to go to prison for 103 days on suspicion of treason. But the affair does not bring down Augstein, but the then Federal Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss (CSU), who had the "Spiegel" editorial team searched and closed. Augstein and his magazine, on the other hand, are henceforth considered a haven of press freedom.
With biting comments against Adenauer's politics
Even before the "Spiegel" affair, Augstein turned against Strauss as defense minister and against the policies of Konrad Adenauer (CDU) in around 150 biting comments, which he published under the pseudonym "Jens Daniel". Augstein sees Adenauer's strictly western orientation as a mistake that cements the separation of Germany. Augstein later supports Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik.
Augstein's short career as a politician
Augstein ended a trip from being a political observer to active politics in November 1972 after just three months.A trip into politics ended unspectacularly for Augstein:in 1972 he accepted an offer from the FDP chairman at the time, Walter Scheel, and stood as a candidate in the federal elections. In November 1972 he entered the Bundestag via the North Rhine-Westphalian state list for the Liberals, but left again three months later. The reason he gives is a change in the chief editorship at "Spiegel".
Another decision by Augstein is more far-reaching:in 1974 he gave the "Spiegel" employees 50 percent of the company. To this day, the "Spiegel" employees are silent partners in the company and have a 50 percent share in its profits.
For the reunion
In 1989, Rudolf Augstein spoke out clearly in favor of reunification. When "Spiegel" editor-in-chief Erich Böhme wrote on October 30, 1989, a few days before the fall of the Wall:"I don't want to be reunited," Augstein replies in "Spiegel" with a yes to unity and looks further into the future than many of his contemporaries:"We don't know what is more difficult to manage, the expanding European unification - where is it supposed to end, in the Urals perhaps? - or the ending of previous German history with a new beginning." He replies to his editors, who described his political comments as effeminate in the 1990s:"Excuse me, self-propelled guns are only appropriate at times when there is something to storm. That is no longer the case."
Rudolf Augstein:Five marriages, four children and the gallery owner Anna Maria Hürtgen
Augstein remained loyal to "Spiegel" throughout his life - privately he loves variety. He married five times, most recently in 2000, to gallery owner Anna Maria Hürtgen. "I have always envied Rudolf Augstein:for his gift of analysis and statement; for his 'Spiegel' success - and of course I envy his success with women," said the "Zeit" publisher Gerd Bucerius in 1993 about the publicist .
Augstein raises four children with three of his wives. His daughter Franziska now works as a journalist for the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". The journalist and publisher of the weekly newspaper "Der Freitag", Jakob Augstein, is officially his son, but the biological child of the writer Martin Walser.
"I write what I think"
Rudolf Augstein remained editor of the "Spiegel" until his death and commented on politics and society. His opinion gets into the paper, even if the editors don't always support him. He wants to leave her room for criticism:"I write what I think because that's the only authority I have left with guidelines. And nobody has to follow that."
Shortly after his 79th birthday, Augstein died on November 7, 2002 as a result of pneumonia. His longtime friend and companion Martin Walser finds very personal words in an obituary:"You'll still be allowed to scream. If someone like that dies. Such a great guy. Scythe."