Christian Friele

Christian Friele, drawn by Andreas Bloch

Christian Friele , Christian Frederik Gotfried Friele (born May 22, 1821 in Bergen , † January 24, 1899 in Kristiania ) was a Norwegian editor.

Life

His parents were the businessman Ole Morup Friele (1790-1852) and his wife Louise Engelche Bohr (17967-1869). On December 12, 1860, he married Marie Cathrine Lasson (November 12, 1827 - October 7, 1909), daughter of the Supreme Court judge Peder Carl Lasson (1798–1873) and his wife Ottilia Pauline Christine von Munthe von Morgenstierne (1804–1886 ).

Friele was one of the most distinctive personalities and influential editors in Norway's newspaper history. Under his leadership, Morgenbladet became a conservative fighting paper for the government and civil servants in the political disputes of his time.

Friele passed his exam artium in 1838 and his law exam in 1851. During this time he was a member of Johan Sebastian Welhaven's circle and at times also a member of the intellectual circle Det lærde Holland . In 1852 he wrote in the newspaper Christiania-Posten and in 1854 he became responsible for the Storting in the Morgenbladet , in 1857 he became editor, and from 1865 to 1893 he was editor-in-chief of the paper. He was polarizing in his editorials, took his own opinions sharply and often bitingly. His main enemy in the press landscape was Hagbard Berner , left editor-in-chief of Dagbladet , who called for expanded voting rights, equality for women, parliamentarism and freedom in culture. Friele's verdict: "It seems that the abyss of prostitution is not so deep that Mr. Berner did not throw himself into it with joy when he imagines that the interests of his party require it."

He was a prominent example of confident opinion-makers who did not devote much energy to deeper insights. He hardly even read a book. It was said of him that the deficiencies in his knowledge gave his arguments an imperturbability that would not have been possible with more detailed knowledge. He never went to the theater, a concert or a lecture and at best read other newspapers. The fact that he was still successful with his certainties was due to the fact that doors were open to him as an editor, while others were closed. He represented a conservative policy and was loyal to many powerful personalities. He embodied the editor as a confidante. His discretion was described as unique and was the reason for the position of power that Morgenbladet achieved under him. He was a man of contacts. He had more employees outside the editorial office than inside. These were professors, politicians, merchants and other public figures who dictated the articles or inspired him. In contrast, cultural life was completely neglected. As a conservative opinion maker, he also stood up for the Union flag and sent many cheap flags with the EU trade mark to the various parts of the country.

He worked at a time when the role of the editor was changing in Norwegian press history. On the one hand he represented the interests of the political and economic leadership, on the other hand he stylized himself as a fearless and independent spirit who is well aware of his own role as an editor. So he rejected the Order of St. Olavs on the grounds: “A royal morning paper? There is no safer way to compromise the sheet and its position! "

On the other hand, he tried to keep a strict distinction between his polemics and the report. The opponent's point of view should also be presented correctly, preferably in short presentations that completely suppressed the news from home and abroad. Nor did he let himself be carried away to publish the moral misconduct of his political opponents and only remarked that the sex drive was evenly distributed among the parties.

He also did not become a member of the first "journalists' association", which was founded in 1883 and which he always referred to as a "Sjofelist-foreningen" (obscene association). He also never appeared in the conservative “press association” he co-founded. This appointed him an honorary member after the end of his activity. But he should never have thanked for the honor.

When parliamentarism prevailed in 1884 and the Conservatives suffered defeat, it was viewed as Friele's defeat and his influence fell abruptly. In 1893 he gave up his post as editor-in-chief for reasons of age and health.

literature

• Martin Eide: Christian Friele . In: Norsk biografisk leksikon
• K. Fischer, JB Halvorsen: Friele, Christian Frederik Gotfried . In: Christian Blangstrup (Ed.): Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon . 2nd Edition. tape 9 : Friele gradient . JH Schultz Forlag, Copenhagen 1920, p. 1 (Danish, runeberg.org ).

References and comments

1. ↑ The "Examen artium" was the regular entrance examination to the university, in this case the University of Copenhagen, which required knowledge of Latin and Greek. So it corresponded to the Abitur, but was accepted by the university until 1883.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Fischer / Halvorsen p. 1.
3. ↑ Gi plass til Hagbard Berner! In: Dagbladet , January 2, 2007.
4. ↑ Øystein Imsen: pdf Flaggsak and flaggbruk i 1890-åra - from Stortinget til Ilevolden .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.1 MB) Dissertation, University of Oslo, 2005, p. 11 f.