Ernst Rietmann

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Ernst Rietmann (born June 26, 1870 in Berlingen ; † January 11, 1945 in Enge ) was a Swiss journalist , newspaper publisher , media manager and politician ( FDP ). From 1930 to 1945 he was administrative director of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).

Life

NZZ

Rietmann, previously Geneva correspondent for the NZZ, joined their domestic editorial team in 1908, and at the beginning of 1912 he became head of the domestic editorial team, deputy to editor-in-chief Walter Bissegger and secretary of the administrative committee , an office he held for thirty years under the presidents of Colonel Ulrich Meister, member of the Council of States Paul Usteri and Heinrich Mousson exercised. When Albert Meyer's election to the Federal Council made it necessary to appoint a new editor-in-chief in 1929 , the administrative committee separated the editorial and administrative-technical management of the enlarged newspaper, created the position of administrative director and elected Rietmann to this position on February 1, 1930. From 1931 to 1933 he also took over the editorial management after the death of editor-in-chief Hans Kloetzli. According to the historian Thomas Maissen , Rietmann, who was de facto at the top of the paper, was overwhelmed by the double burden. The resulting lack of leadership was reflected in an unclear editorial line, which led to harsh criticism at the General Assembly of April 1933.

War years

During the First World War , Rietmann, with his special relationship with French-speaking Switzerland from his time as a correspondent, was given the task of “acting as a mediator between German and French-speaking Switzerland and maintaining national political cohesion in the face of the unfortunate“ rift ”that the country has deeply within Divorce threatened ».

In the Swiss war economy of the Second World War , Rietmann took over the management of the graphic arts group in the paper and cellulose section in autumn 1938. In 1939 he was elected President of the War Economics Paper Syndicate, an office he held until 1944. He was then made an honorary member of the Syndicate.

He was a member of the Mixed Press Political Commission, which, during the inevitable censorship caused by the war, exercised the task of a press council, which mediated between the Federal Council and, at times, the army command and the newspapers.

Media mandates

From 1918 to 1920 he was President of the Zürcher Pressverein. In 1923 the Swiss Book Printers Association (today viscom ) made him an honorary member.

In 1917 he became a member of the steering committee and from 1929 to 1938 he was President of the Swiss Newspaper Publishers Association (now the Swiss Media Association ). He was then made an honorary member of the SZV.

From 1920 he was quaestor of the Union Internationale des Associations de Presse and in 1933 co-founder and until 1938 first president of the resulting Fédération Internationale des Editeurs de Journaux (FIEJ, now WAN-IFRA ). From 1928 he was Switzerland's delegate to the Union Continentale de Publicité . From 1941 until his death in 1945 he was a member of the board of directors of the Swiss Dispatch Agency (sda, member of the committee from 1943).

politics

Rietmann was a member of the Grand Council of the Canton of Zurich from 1923 to 1935 (today the Cantonal Council of Zurich ).

Publications

Articles from the NZZ published as reprints :
  • On Zurich's transport policy. 1913.
  • For the big Zurich election day. A series of articles in the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” in the first half of July on the first proportional election of the Zurich Cantonal Council on July 8, 1917. 1917.
  • For the proportional election of the National Council. 1918.
  • Should Switzerland join the League of Nations? The Blocus Note and the League of Nations. 1919.
  • Switzerland and the League of Nations. Vorarlberg picture sheet. 1919.
  • We, peace and the League of Nations. 1920.
  • On the League of Nations question. 1920.
  • For the referendum on joining the League of Nations. 1920.
  • Switzerland and the League of Nations. 1921.
  • The first League of Nations assembly November – December 1920 in Geneva. Letters from Geneva on issues of the day. Savoyard letters (on the question of zones). 1921.
  • The second League of Nations meeting. September – October 1921 in Geneva.
  • The third League of Nations meeting. September 1922 in Geneva. 1922.
  • Liechtenstein and Switzerland. 1923.
  • Canadian travel sketches. 1923/1924.
  • The fifth assembly of the League of Nations. September / October 1924 in Geneva. 1924.
  • International press conference in London, 4. – 12. July 1927. 1927.
  • Iberian picture sheet. 1929.
  • Maritime diorama. 1929.
  • Spain and the 1929 exhibition (with Walter Weibel). 1929.
  • Autumn trip around Italy. 1932.
  • Nordic picture sheet. 1932.
  • Midsummer Mediterranean cruise. 1933.
  • Roman autumn leaves. 1933.

Private

Rietmann was married to Milly nee Keller (1877–1942). The couple had no children.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Willy Bretscher : Director Ernst Rietmann †. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . April 19, 1945, evening edition, sheet 4, p. 1.
  2. ↑ a b Director Ernst Rietmann at the age of seventy. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . June 26, 1940, morning edition, sheet 2.
  3. ^ Thomas Maissen : The history of the NZZ 1780–2005. Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-03823-134-7 , p. 97 (archived on the Heidelberg University website ; PDF; 1.3 MB).
  4. ^ Edmund Richner: On the death of Karl Sartorius. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . February 11, 1965, evening edition, sheet 3.


personal data
SURNAME Rietmann, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss journalist, newspaper publisher, media manager and politician (FDP)
DATE OF BIRTH June 26, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlingen
DATE OF DEATH January 11, 1945
Place of death Tightness