Theo summer

Theo Sommer (1967)

Theo Sommer (born June 10, 1930 in Konstanz ) is a German historian and publicist. From 1973 to 1992 he was editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit , then until 2000 its publisher together with Marion Gräfin Dönhoff and Helmut Schmidt . He has also published numerous books and articles on politics and contemporary history.

Life

education

From August 1942 to May 1945, Sommer was a student at the Adolf Hitler School (AHS) on the Ordensburg Sonthofen . His schoolmates included Hardy Krüger and Jakob Muth . In 1949 he passed the Abitur examination in Schwäbisch Gmünd . He then studied history and political science at Åsa Folkhögskola , Sweden, at the University of Tübingen , at Manchester College in Indiana, USA, and at the University of Chicago . Summer was in 1960 when Hans Rothfels in Tübingen Dr. phil. with a thesis on Germany and Japan between the Powers, 1935-1940 . He then took part in Henry Kissinger's International Seminar at Harvard University in the summer of 1960 .

journalist

Sommer has been working as a journalist since 1949. His career began at the Rems newspaper in Schwäbisch Gmünd, for which he worked as a local editor from 1952 to 1955. In 1958, through the mediation of Marion Countess Dönhoff, he became political editor at the time , of which he was editor-in-chief from January 1, 1973 to September 30, 1992. He then acted from October 1, 1992 to March 31, 2000 alongside Marion Countess Dönhoff and former Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as editor. Since 2004, Sommer has been the publisher at Times Media GmbH under the management of Detlef W. Prinz . He is editor of The Atlantic Times and The German Times . In addition, Sommer worked for foreign press organs, u. a. as a columnist at Newsweek International , Yomiuri Shimbun (Tokyo), JoongAng Ilbo (Seoul).

Other offices and activities

From 1967 to 1970, Sommer taught political science at the University of Hamburg . In the 1972 winter semester he taught at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University .

In 1969/1970 he was head of the planning staff in the Federal Ministry of Defense under Federal Defense Minister Helmut Schmidt . From 1970 to 1972 he was a member of the Federal Government's Defense Structure Commission .

In addition, in 1999 and 2000, Sommer was deputy chairman of the Weizsäcker Commission “Common Security and the Future of the Bundeswehr ” and from January 2001 to June 2001 head of the “Dr. Sommer “to investigate how the Bundeswehr handles hazardous substances and hazards such as uranium ammunition , X-rays from radar systems and asbestos .

From 1990 to 1996 he was a member of the advisory board of the non-profit Bertelsmann Foundation .

From 1992 to 2004, Sommer was on the board of Welthungerhilfe .

Others

Sommer is third married and has five children. He lives with his wife in Hamburg-Volksdorf . He is Ariane Sommer's uncle .

In 2014, Sommer was sentenced to a suspended sentence of one year and seven months by the Hamburg District Court for tax evasion and fraud in a particularly serious case ; He also had to pay 20,000 euros to a non-profit organization as a probationary condition  . The proceedings concerned a tax liability of 649,917.99 euros from 2005 to 2011 as a result of his work as an editor for the publishing house Times Media GmbH and its products such as The Atlantic Times , which he initially hidden from the tax authorities, but until the trial had largely repaid. Sommer had confessed to himself, regretted the misconduct and thereby stated that he wanted to wait for the investment to be profitable first and then suppressed the problem. He said the matter was "embarrassing in front of my family, colleagues, friends and critics, but above all in front of myself".

Memberships

• 1973: Member of the Trilateral Commission

Awards (selection)

• 1966: Theodor Wolff Prize
• 1998: Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class
• 2002: Gold Cross of Honor of the Bundeswehr
• 2012: Honorary Senator of the Helmut Schmidt University

Works (selection)

As an author

• Germany and Japan between the powers 1935–1940. From the Anti-Comintern Pact to the Three Power Pact. A study on the diplomatic prehistory of World War II (= Tübingen Studies on History and Politics. No. 15). Mohr (Siebeck) , Tübingen 1962 ( dissertation , University of Tübingen , 1960).
• (with Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, Rudolf Walter Leonhardt ) Journey to a distant country: Report on culture, economy and politics in the GDR. Nannen, Hamburg 1964. ( Number 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list from October 7th to 20th and from November 11th to December 15th, 1964 )
• The Chinese map: 900 million on the way to the year 2000. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1979, ISBN 3-492-02505-6 .
• Looking back into the future: considerations from 1973–1983. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt , Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-421-06203-X .
• Towards the future: a look back ahead. Rowohlt , Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-498-06342-1 .
• Hamburg: cosmopolitan city in the waves of the times. Hoffmann and Campe , Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-455-09430-9 .
• 1945: The biography of a year. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-498-06382-0 .
• (with Karl-Heinz Janßen , Haug von Kuenheim ) Die Zeit: History of a weekly newspaper from 1946 to today. Siedler , Munich 2006, ISBN 3-88680-847-5 .
• Our Schmidt: The statesman and the publicist. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-455-50176-6 .
• This NATO has had its day: the alliance must become more European. A point of view. Ed. Körber Foundation, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-89684-144-5 .
• China First. The world on the way to the Chinese century. CH Beck, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-406-73483-0 .

As editor

• Thinking of Germany: On the problem of reunification, views and. Insights. Nannen, Hamburg 1966.
• Alliance in transition? The relationship between Europe and America. Heyne, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-453-01724-2 .
• Travel to the other Germany. Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1986, ISBN 3-498-06210-7 .
• (with Marion Countess Dönhoff, Helmut Schmidt) Contemporary history of the Bonn Republic 1949–1999. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-498-01314-9 .
• Living in Germany: The Anatomy of a Nation. Kiepenheuer & Witsch , Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-46203-414-6 .
• My idea of ​​the land of ideas: How the world sees Germany. Droemer, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-426-27410-8 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Theo Sommer in the catalog of the German National Library
• Otto Schily : The Lord of the TIME. Congratulations from politics. In: Die Zeit 24/2010 from June 10, 2010
• Josef Joffe : »Instructed by Dr. Sommer «The truth about» Ted «- congratulations from the editor . In: The time of June 10, 2010
• Theo Sommer in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely accessible)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See sit down, six! - School stories from Germany (1/3). Lost childhood . Documentary by Dora Heinze on behalf of SWR. German premiere on December 8, 2005
2. ↑ Chronicle. Bertelsmann Stiftung, accessed on May 15, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Theo Sommer receives suspended sentence website MEEDIA, article January 22, 2014, from Felix Disselhoff. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
4. ↑ Former "Zeit" boss Theo Sommer "I made a huge mistake", sueddeutsche.de of January 22, 2014
5. ^ Tax evasion - Former ZEIT boss Sommer sentenced to suspended sentence , FAZ.net, accessed on January 22, 2014.
6. ↑ http://www.trilateral.org/download/doc/Dec_1973_Jan_1974_North_American_European_Japanese_Affairs.pdf
7. ^ Theodor Wolff Prize ( Memento from July 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Prize winners from 1962 to 1997. BDZV website, prize winners & award ceremony. Retrieved January 31, 2014.

predecessor	Office	successor
-	Head of the planning staff in the Federal Ministry of Defense 1969–1970	Hans-Georg Wieck