Alfred Schwingenstein

Alfred Schwingenstein (born December 16, 1919 in Ulm , † July 3, 1997 in Munich ) was a German lawyer , graduate economist and publisher .

Live and act

Schwingenstein was the son of the Catholic publisher August Schwingenstein . He studied philosophy , newspaper science and business administration at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich with a degree in economics.

As a nineteen-year-old practicing Catholic, he experienced the pogrom night in Munich and, on November 10, 1938, was shocked to note in his diary:

“First the synagogues were still burning yesterday evening. In the course of the night the windows of all Jewish shops were smashed and some of the inside (the shops) were set on fire. In the early morning, around 1,000 Jews from Munich were taken hostage in protective custody. According to reports, the Uhlfeder department store presented the picture of the greatest devastation. So that was the answer of the German cultural people to the insane act of this seventeen-year-old boy . Is that the noble behavior of the Nordic man? "

The next day he continued:

“20 rallies are scheduled for tonight (in Munich). Also Gauleiter Wagner will speak at the Circus Krone. In an appeal he calls for a fight against the black and red allies (the Jews). We know what that means. Tomorrow our windows can go into ruins. "

On November 12th, his entry read:

“At the Bischofshof, all the windows and window frames on the ground and first floors have been smashed. It is said that there was paper lying around the cathedral. Flames in it would have been the sign of the final battle against the so-called black allies. So this is the German people, the people of poets and thinkers , who resort to such Bolshevik methods in order to allegedly take revenge ... At noon I learn that 32 panes have also been smashed in our sacristy and in the new rectory. Similar reports are available from almost all churches. "

In 1945 his father became a licensee and at the same time the publishing director of the Süddeutsche Zeitung together with Edmund Goldschagg and Dr. Franz Josef Schöningh . The cradle of KNA is also in Munich . Here Alfred Schwingenstein founded the ecumenically oriented Christian News Service (CND) in 1946 , without which the start of KNA would have been inconceivable. In 1963 he submitted his dissertation under the title The economic conceptions of order in the constitutions of the German states . In 1976 Alfred Schwingenstein also became chairman of the SV shareholders' meeting. 

Services

The publishing rights remained in the families. The owners of the Süddeutscher Verlag in 1999 consisted of Alfred Schwingenstein jr. (20.5 percent), Schöningh's son-in-law Peter von Seidlein (23.1 percent) and Rolf Goldschagg (23.1 percent). Later came the Friedmanns (Friedmann's son Johannes holds 23.1 percent) and Hanns-Jörg Dürrmeier, who is also chairman of the shareholders' meeting. According to the articles of association, the shareholders have a right of first refusal on the basis of the unitary tax value, should a regular member want to sell his shares. The publishing house has an estimated value of around DM 1 billion. Sales rose from DM 1.251 billion (1998) to DM 1.448 billion (1999).

Works

• The concept of economic order in the constitutions of the German states ; Munich: self-published, 1961; at the same time: Munich: Faculty of State Economics, dissertation from November 26, 1963

literature

• Alfred Schwingenstein died. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), No. 152 of July 5, 1997, p. 1.
• Gernot Sittner: A straight life. On the death of Alfred Schwingenstein. As a partner, he made a significant contribution to SZ. In: SZ No. 152 of July 5, 1997, p. 5.
• Hans-Günter Richardi : In the beginning there was the end. The work of August and Alfred Schwingenstein in rebuilding the free press in Bavaria. Akademie Verlag, Munich 2001.
• Franz Menges:  Schwingenstein, Alfred. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-11205-0 , p. 89 f. ( Digitized version ).

Web links

• Literature by and about Alfred Schwingenstein in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gernot Sittner : A straight life . In: SZ of July 5, 1987
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Hans-Günter Richardi: In the beginning there was the end . Munich 2001, p. 68 f .; quoted from: Konrad Löw: 65 years of the Reichspogromnacht. Has the Catholic Church been silent? In: The new order 6/57 (2003)
3. ↑ KNA. Munich - Bavarian State Service ( Memento from June 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Manfred Riebe: Süddeutscher Verlag - media group. Subsidiaries at a glance
5. ↑ Journalists - servants of power  ( 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.