Georg von Holtzbrinck

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Georg von Holtzbrinck (born May 11, 1909 in Haus Schöpplenberg, Hagen , † April 27, 1983 in Stuttgart ) was a German publisher and bookseller .

biography

Youth and Studies

Georg von Holtzbrinck was the child of a noble estate owner in Hagen in Westphalia and had four other siblings. The defining experience of childhood was the impoverishment of the family through mismanagement and inflation . Holtzbrinck, who began studying law in Bonn and Cologne in 1929 , had to earn his own living. In 1931 he became a member of the National Socialist German Student Union (NSDStB). In the summer of 1930 he began his work as a subscriber for the library of entertainment and knowledge of the Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft(Stuttgart). In 1931 he switched entirely to the magazine and book advertising business. At that time he was already working with August-Wilhelm Schlösser , his long-term partner who had been the publishing representative of the Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft (UDV) since 1928 . In 1932 Holtzbrinck was already earning 20,000 Reichsmarks a year (the annual salary of a State Secretary was 22,000 Reichsmarks).

1933-1945

From 1934 Schlösser and Holtzbrinck were exclusively responsible for the entire UDV magazine advertising with the obligation to attract 50,000 subscribers annually. As an additional mainstay, they acquired the German publishing expedition (Devex), which was approved by the Reich Press Chamber in December 1936 . Holtzbrinck had already joined the NSDAP in 1933 ( membership number 2.126.353). Schlösser was able to conclude a contract with the German Labor Front (DAF) through Hitler's private law firm (head: Philipp Bouhler ) (at the height of its development 25 million members). Devex now took over the distribution of the DAF magazines Beauty of Work and Joy and Work .

The circulation of all DAF sheets in 1938 amounted to almost 30 million copies. With the beginning of the Second World War on September 1, 1939, the title Beauty of Work was discontinued and the edition of Joy and Work was cut. Due to arrears between Devex and DAF, there was a lawsuit involving three levels. In 1939 Schlösser and Holtzbrinck were able to print texts by Nazi author Hans Grimm ( People without Space ) as a special volume.

The turnover of UVB and Devex in 1942 amounted to 1.6 million Reichsmarks, Holtzbrinck taxed an annual income of 120,140 Reichsmarks. On March 1, 1943, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht , became a prisoner of war in 1945, was released early for health reasons (stomach ulcer), but was banned from working.

After 1945

Holtzbrinck's wife now applied for permission to print and sell colored postcards. The distribution of books started again. In the denazification process , the Chamber sentenced Holtzbrinck to pay a fine of 1200 Reichsmarks in 1948, emphasized his party membership and the use of his party contacts to secure the exclusive right to distribute magazines.

In 1948, following the arbitration chamber procedure , Holtzbrinck and the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group (at that time still under the name Deutscher Bücherbund ) founded a company that is now one of the largest European publishing groups.

Despite its past, the next Holtzbrinck generation was able to acquire prestigious former Jewish publishers in S. Fischer or Farrar, Straus & Giroux .

family

Holtzbrinck had three children with his wife Addy von Holtzbrinck, born in 1938, née Griesenbeck (born February 13, 1913 in Rummenohl ; † 2005): Monika (1939–2019), Georg-Dieter (* 1941) and Karin (1943–2006); The son Stefan (* 1963) comes from another connection .

Others

Two annual awards of the Holtzbrinck publishing group are named after Georg von Holtzbrinck : The Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Science Journalism has been awarded since 1995 and the Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Business Journalism since 2000 .

The Georg von Holtzbrinck School for Business Journalists is also named after him. The Addy von Holtzbrinck Foundation GmbH in Stuttgart is named after his wife .

Georg von Holtzbrinck was friends with the former mayor and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation Teddy Kollek . Since then, the German publishing family has been promoting projects for all parts of the population of the city of Jerusalem.

Awards

literature

See also

Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See the following: Thomas Schuler: An uncle in the SS. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung of January 30, 2009.
  2. ↑ Genealogical representation of the Holtzbrinck family ( Memento from November 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
personal data
SURNAME Holtzbrinck, Georg von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher and bookseller
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH House Schöplenberg, Hagen
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1983
Place of death Stuttgart