Georg Mackensen

Georg Mackensen (born September 14, 1895 in Münster , † February 24, 1965 in Braunschweig ) was a German publisher .

Life

Georg Mackensen was born in Münster in 1895. He was the son of the Prussian Colonel Erich Mackensen (1862-1921) and his wife Frieda (1872-1931), b. from Uslar. He attended a humanistic grammar school in Braunschweig before taking part in the First World War in the Braunschweig Hussar Regiment No. 17 . After the end of the war he worked in various industries, such as banking, printing, the paper trade and the publishing book trade. Mackensen married Luise Westermann (1900–1998) in 1925, the daughter of Georg Westermann , the owner of the Braunschweig Westermann publishing house founded in 1838 . He joined the company as a partner in 1933, which he ran with his brother-in-law Everhard Westermann .

Under Mackensen's direction, the publishing house, printer and cartographic institute experienced a significant revival. The printing house was expanded to become one of the most efficient graphic companies in northern Germany. The culture magazine Westermanns monthly , founded in 1856, appeared in increasing circulation , contemporary novels and school books ( primers , foreign-language text editions, atlases) continued to be published. The Kartographische Anstalt published new editions of the Diercke-Atlas for higher education institutions, which has been published since 1883, as well as road maps and car atlases ( Conti-Atlas ) and numerous special maps (e.g. Olympic Summer Games 1936 ) and school wall maps in all world languages.

After the Second World War

During the Second World War , production was able to continue despite some damage to the building. After the end of the war, Mackensen organized the rebuilding of the company, which in 1955 employed over 900 people, which meant doubling the pre-war level. He initiated the construction of more than 150 apartments for war returnees and refugees.

In the course of the reorientation of the educational system in the young Federal Republic of Germany, Mackensen founded the magazines Westermanns Pedagogical Contributions and Geographical Rundschau and subsequently Die Grundschule in 1949 . The focus of the publishing program was increasingly educational specialist literature. Under Mackensen's direction, Westermann-Verlag became one of the most important German textbook publishers specializing in school cartography and specialist literature for commercial vocational training. The youth book publishing company was added as a new publishing branch. As in the 19th century, Westermann-Verlag published the books of the authors of Westermann's monthly magazines in the second half of the 20th century .

In 1960 he donated the Georg Mackensen Literature Prize for the best German short story in the German language . The prize was awarded from 1962 to 1985. In addition, Mackensen promoted the fine arts by purchasing sculptures and paintings for the company and competitions ( The Westermann house in the picture for the promotion of Braunschweig artists 1955).

From 1943 Georg Mackensen and his wife Luise lived next to the print shop at Georg-Westermann-Allee 66 in Braunschweig. The childless couple adopted the two sons Jürgen and Gerd of the fallen Rudolf Mackensen (1893–1945). Both adoptive sons later joined the company. Georg Mackensen died in February 1965 at the age of 69 in Braunschweig. He was buried in the local Magni cemetery .

Honors

• Federal Cross of Merit (September 30, 1955)
• Goethe badge (Hessen) (1955)
• Golden plaque of honor of the city of Braunschweig (presented on September 14, 1955 on the occasion of Mackensen's 60th birthday)

Fonts (selection)

• Westermann. Profile of a publisher. 1838-1963. An anniversary report , Westermann-Verlag, Braunschweig 1963.

literature

• Luitgard Camerer: Westermann-Verlag . In: Luitgard Camerer , Manfred Garzmann , Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf (eds.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon . Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-926701-14-5 , p. 245 .
• Bergit Korschan-Kuhle: Mackensen, Georg . In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Günter Scheel (ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 19th and 20th centuries . Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5838-8 , p. 396-397 .
• Carl August Schröder:  Mackensen, Georg. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 624 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Susanne Weihmann: Georg Mackensen . In: Reinhard Bein (Ed.): Braunschweiger personalities of the 20th century. Volume 3: from the city of Braunschweig and the former districts of Braunschweig. döringDRUCK, Braunschweig 2015, ISBN 978-3-925268-53-3 , pp. 174–177.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entry "Mackensen, Georg". In: Munzinger Online / People - International Biographical Archive ( online )
2. ↑ Hessian Ministry of Science and Art : Directory of the Goethe plaques awarded from September 1952 (as of February 2016), p. 3 ( online )
3. ↑ Chronicle of the City of Braunschweig (accessed February 1, 2020)