Erich Voltmer

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Erich Voltmer (born September 21, 1913 in Bildstock (Saar) ; † February 8, 1983 in Saarbrücken ), was one of the most important and well-known Saarland journalists , most recently deputy editor-in-chief of the Saarbrücker Zeitung . He became known nationwide because, during the Cold War, he conducted the first and for a long time the only interview of a Western journalist with Erich Honecker , the then Chairman of the State Council of the GDR .

Life

Voltmer came from a proletarian but also very Catholic family. His father Karl Voltmer practiced the job of Obersteig in the coal mines of the Saar area . Erich Honecker was a neighbor boy . Apparently Voltmer and Honecker got along well; the similar social origins dominated over different beliefs. This youth acquaintance was the basis of the later exclusive interview.

Voltmer went to school in neighboring Neunkirchen . After finishing school, Voltmer trained as an editor in the archive at the Saarbrücker Zeitung and did a traineeship at the Sparkasse . Then he worked briefly in the labor administration. During the Second World War he worked as a journalist in the army, including in the Balkans. In the post-war period he returned to the Saarbrücker Zeitung, where he was promoted to head of the “Politics and State Politics” department in 1970 and even to deputy editor-in-chief in 1976 .

His biggest journalistic scoop was the interview with Honecker on February 17, 1977 .

The biography of the long-standing and shortly before deceased Saarland Prime Minister Franz Josef Röder , written by Voltmer in 1979, was also successful - "one of the greatest Saarland bestsellers", according to historian Julian Bernstein in 2018.

Voltmer retired from the Saarbrücker Zeitung in 1978. He passed away in 1983.

Awards

In 1976 Erich Voltmer was awarded the Saarland Order of Merit.

Erich Voltmer Prize

In 1975 the Saarland Journalists' Association (SJV) founded the “Erich Voltmer Prize for Young Journalists” in honor of Erich Voltmer. The award winners include:

literature

  • Erich Voltmer "Franz Josef Röder, A Life for the Saar" (biography), Lebach: Queißer 1979, ISBN 9783921815106

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Erich Voltmer: From Saarlanders to Saarlanders . In: Saarbrücker Zeitung / Zeit . zeit.de, February 25, 1977 ( zeit.de [accessed August 13, 2019]).
  2. ^ Julian Bernstein: Saarland: Historians as producers of myths. In: woxx.lu. woxx déi aner weekly newspaper, August 30, 2018, accessed on August 13, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Erich Voltmer Prize for young journalists. In: Kulturpreise.de. Retrieved August 13, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Voltmer, Erich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Wayside shrine (Saar)
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1983
Place of death Saarbrücken