Friedrich Poppenberger

Friedrich Poppenberger , called Fritz, (born March 1, 1904 in Sereth , Duchy of Bukowina , † August 22, 1992 in Hof (Saale) ) was a German Buchenland-German lawyer and journalist.

Life

Before World War II

Fritz Poppenberger attended the kk I. Staatsgymnasium Czernowitz . After passing his Matura on February 1, 1923, he studied law at the Chernivtsi University. He completed his studies in February 1928 with the degree of a licentiate in law.

In 1924 Poppenberger joined the editorial team of the later National Socialist oriented "Czernowitzer Deutsche Tagespost" as a trainee while still studying . After completing his law degree, he was admitted to the bar, but never worked in the profession. Instead, in 1931 he became the editor in charge of the “Czernowitzer Deutsche Tagespost”. During this time Poppenberger was a close friend and supporter of the writer Georg Drozdowski .

In 1940 he went to Bucharest as a foreign correspondent for the “ Münchner Latest Nachrichten ”, where he also became head of the Volksdeutsche press office . During this time he published articles in the Bucharest Tageblatt . In Bucharest he worked at the same time for a “Vienna press service”, ie the “Publikationsstelle Wien” of the Southeast German Research Association , which was managed by the married couple Gertrud and Wilfried Krallert and operated by the SS .

After the Second World War

After the Second World War, in 1947 a Soviet court martial in Weimar sentenced Poppenberger to ten years in a forced camp for anti-Soviet activity and for the publication of an unpopular article in the newspaper Freiheit in Halle . In 1950, under adventurous circumstances, he managed to escape from prison in Torgau to the Bavarian Hof (Saale) . On June 15, 1950, the Frankenpost in Hof hired him as a political editor. Here he became its editor-in-chief in March 1951 and held this position until his retirement in the summer of 1974.

In 1954, he and Heinrich Giegold took part in a cultural exchange program initiated by the United States of America , in which he worked on the conclusion of the first German-American town twinning ever between Hof and Ogden (Utah) . As a teenager he was already involved in TSV Jahn Czernowitz, in Hof he was chairman of the tennis club Hof and on the board of the then second division soccer club FC Bayern Hof . As chairman of the adult education center in Hof, he was also involved in education for his new hometown. In 1969, the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany awarded him the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class, for "Services to the State and the People" . The Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutsche awarded him the Golden Badge of Honor . On the occasion of his 70th birthday, he was honored with the Golden Citizen Medal of the City of Hof for his versatile work . The Bavarian Prime Minister awarded him the Bavarian Order of Merit for his journalistic services in Bavaria.

Corps student

Fritz Poppenberger was already involved in founding the Pennal Association Aria when he was still in high school. When he started his studies in 1923 he was active in the Corps Alemannia Czernowitz . He successfully holds the position of senior three times and that of consensus twice. He remained loyal to his corps as an old man and was involved in the re-establishment of the old gentlemen's association after the Second World War. The Corps Frankonia-Brünn awarded the ribbon on the occasion of the reconstitution in Salzburg in 1964. He gave the speech for the Chernivtsi Corps at the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Chernivtsi University in Linz in 1975.

Awards

• Federal Cross of Merit, First Class
• Golden citizen medal of the city of Hof
• Bavarian Order of Merit
• Golden badge of honor of the Landsmannschaft der Buchenlanddeutsche

Publications (selection)

• That you are well ... Roman, M. Feuchtwanger Verlag, Halle 1930.
• The Buchenland and its Germans. In: Volk im Osten, issue 1 / August, Bucharest 1940, pp. 37–40.
• The Romanian press. In: newspaper science. Monthly for international newspaper research. 18th year 1943, pp. 124-131.
• numerous articles in the Bucharest daily newspaper and the Frankenpost

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Johann Böhm , Klaus Popa : From NS-Volkstum- to expellee functionary. The founding members of the Südostdeutschen Kulturwerk München and the country teams of Germans from Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia . Peter Lang Edition, Frankfurt / Main 2014, p. 24.
2. ^ Günther F. Guggenberger: Georg Drozdowski in literary fields between Czernowitz and Berlin (1920–1945 ), Frank & Timme Berlin, ISBN 978-3-7329-0169-2 , p. 350
3. ↑ Südostdeutsche Vierteljahresblätter, 2nd episode, 18th year, 1969, p. 12. Quoted in: Böhm / Popa: Vom NS-Volkstum- zum Dispiedenfunctionär. The founding members of the Südostdeutschen Kulturwerk München and the country teams of Germans from Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia . P. 23.
4. ↑ Klaus Popa: "German Research in the Southeast". In: Handbook of the Volkish Sciences . Edited by Ingo Haar and Michael Fahlbusch, Munich 2008, pp. 335–337, 496–504. Quoted in: Böhm / Popa: From NS-Volkstum- to expellee functionary. The founding members of the Südostdeutschen Kulturwerk München and the country teams of Germans from Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia . P. 23.
5. ^ Alf Mintzel: editors-in-chief and managing directors of Frankenpost since 1945 . In: Historical Lexicon of Bavaria from November 27, 2012.
6. ↑ Ellen Latzin: Learning from America? The US cultural exchange program for Bavaria and its graduates . Volume 23 of Transatlantic Historical Studies, Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-515-08629-5 , p. 230.
7. ↑ Golden Citizens' Medal : An award for committed Hoferinnen and Hofer. List of carriers with loan date.
8. ^ Project page of the Bavarian Order of Merit with a person search for the sponsors
9. ^ Raimund Lang: Couleur in Chernivtsi . WJK-Verlag, Hilden 2013, ISBN 978-3-940891-41-9 , p. 117
10. ↑ Klaus Popa: Völkisches Handbuch Südosteuropa, letter P. p. 40.