Josef von Ferenczy

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Josef von Ferenczy , often just Josef Ferenczy (the nobility is shown in Hungarian by the “y” at the end of the name, the “von” in the name is therefore just a Germanization), (* April 4, 1919 in Kecskemét , Hungary ; † 29. May 2011 in Grünwald ) was a German-Hungarian media manager, publisher and film producer .

He was Extraordinary Ambassador of the Republic of Hungary, a former lieutenant colonel in the reserve and honorary brigadier general of the Hungarian army. The activities of Ferenczy Media Holding AG shaped media development in the German-speaking area. Von Ferenczy was considered the first media manager in the history of the German-speaking area.

Life

After von Ferenczy's father left him, his older sister Lenke and his mother Jolan, the family became impoverished. By selling tap water in the only cinema in town and packing fruit boxes, von Ferenczy subsequently contributed to the living. At the age of 19, Ferenczy founded an “ advertising agency ” in Budapest .

In 1944 von Ferenczy was interned because of his resistance against the National Socialists. In 1946 he became State Secretary in the Hungarian Ministry of Defense. In 1948 the Hungarian political police arrested him after he had obtained a passport for an opponent of the regime. After the communist seizure of power, Ferenczy came to Munich via Vienna in 1951 . After failing as an orange importer, he turned to the film trade, one of his 17 other companies. As a film producer (eg “ Soccer World Cup 1954 ”, “ Spion Simpel ” and “ Max Schmeling ”) and in the field of public relations , his new field of activity developed. The production about the football victory of his adopted country over his home country in 1954 was his first major commercial success.

In the 1950s, Ferenczy specialized in placing texts in German media. Over the years he has worked for more than 130 authors. He collaborated with Revue , Quick , Bunte and Stern, among others . Helmut Markwort , Franz Josef Wagner and Patricia Riekel initially worked as Ferenczy authors. Ferenczy discovered Heinz G. Konsalik , whom he commissioned with the 40 episode series "Rolled Up Again: The Nuremberg Trial" in the "Münchner Illustrierte" (later the "Bunten"). He also commissioned him to write the book "The Doctor of Stalingrad", which served as a template for one of the most successful post-war films. He promoted Oswalt Kolle at the beginning of his career.

On the PR side, he looked after the CEO of the German BP Hellmuth Buddenberg and the management of AEG . In addition to his work for companies, he advised politicians from a wide variety of parties, including Hans-Dietrich Genscher , Theo Waigel , Peter Glotz , Willy Brandt and Helmut Haussmann . He was friends with Yasser Arafat and Ephraim Kishon . Der Spiegel referred to Ferenczy as the inventor of “atmospheric PR” and described him as a “link artist in the fog between business and politics, show and media, who wears his little menjou mustache with the same nonchalance as the '28 awards from all over the place ', as he in his carefully cultivated Puszta dialect is now defiantly noticed. ”If you follow the magazine, Ferenczy applies to the rest of the world“ optionally as a link artist and dream manufacturer ”,“ doyen of power ”or even“ chief engineer of the German soul ”. In the 1970s, Ferenczy made the "PR shield" for the family of the billionaire Friedrich Karl Flick for annual fees in the order of 800,000–1,000,000 Swiss francs .

In the early 1980s, Ferenczy held 49 percent of Gruenwald Verlag , the rest was with Bertelsmann . In 1980 he published Franz Josef Strauss ' work "Gebote der Freiheit" in this book . In the early 1980s, Ferenczy accounted for his own authors through Ferenczy Verlag AG in Zurich , which led to investigations by German tax authorities. According to information from Spiegel , Ferenczy received around 336,000 marks in 1994 to “inspire coal-tired East voters for government policy and to accompany the unification process”. In the 1990s, Ferenczy received around one million marks annually from companies and 25 percent of the fees of his writers. Andy Warhol portrayed him.

In 2000, after partnerships with Moritz Hunzinger (Hunzinger Information AG) and the entrepreneur Erich Lejeune had failed , Ferenczy introduced Jürgen Ströbel (Best of Media) as a new partner to manage his agency. In 2001, the partnership came to an end after a dispute. As a result, the mirror reported on old debts in the double-digit millions. In 2001, Ferenczy Mediahaus GmbH & Co KG finally applied for preliminary insolvency at the Munich District Court with effect from August 16 .

Ferenczy had two sons with his wife Katharina (1921–2010): Csaba died in 1993 after a stomach bleeding, Andreas in 1996 after a heart attack - both were only 52 years old. In May 2010 Ferenczy - sick and in a wheelchair - had to say goodbye to his wife Katharina, with whom he had been married for 60 years. In December of that year, in anticipation of the forced move out of his Grünwalder villa, his remaining belongings were auctioned off. Josef von Ferenczy died at the age of 92 on May 29, 2011 in the Römerschanz nursing home in Grünwald. He was buried in the Grünwald forest cemetery. Josef von Ferenczy liked to describe himself as a "passionate Hungarian, loyal German and enthusiastic European".

Companies

In 1957 von Ferenczy founded his first media agency, the Ferenczy Press Agency (FPA), which later merged into Ferenczy Media GmbH with the merger of 18 companies . In 1994 he founded the Friends of Honvéd Army and Society in Budapest, in 1994 ALFA-TV, in 1996 Ferenczy Media Holding AG based in Munich .

In a case study, the Cologne-based sociologist and media scientist Alfons Silbermann described the entrepreneurial activities of Ferenczys as an example of an “open and flexible corporate attitude”.

Awards

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Josef von Ferenczy or: What is a media manager, please? in: Herbert Riehl-Heyse , Götterdämmerung. The masters of public opinion . Siedler, 1st edition (Tb.), 1999, pp. 111-123.
  2. ↑ a b c d Beate Wedekind: The first media manager Josef von Ferenczy turns 90 , April 2, 2009, at merkur-online.de .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Alexander Antonoff: The eleventh commandment. Konsalik, Kolle and the communicator. The philosophy of the media manager Josef von Ferenczy , 25 September 2000 under welt.de .
  4. ^ Herbert Riehl-Heyse: Götterdämmerung. The masters of public opinion . 1999, p. 112.
  5. ^ Herbert Riehl-Heyse: Götterdämmerung. The masters of public opinion . 1999, p. 120.
  6. ↑ a b c Thomas Tuma: Public Relations. Finale furioso . In: Der Spiegel . No. 35 , 2001, p. 128-129 ( Online - Aug. 27, 2001 ).
  7. ↑ a b c d Thomas Tuma: Public Relations. Air + air = compressed air . In: Der Spiegel . No. 37 , 1998, pp. 130-133 ( online - Sept. 7, 1998 ).
  8. ↑ When it all comes out ... In: Der Spiegel . No. 43 , 1984, pp. 15-27 ( Online - Oct. 22, 1984 ).
  9. ↑ Strauss. Same and same . In: Der Spiegel . No. 18 , 1980, pp. 31-33 ( Online - Apr. 28, 1980 ).
  10. ↑ Publishers. Campari bitter . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1980, pp. 131 ( Online - Mar. 17, 1980 ).
  11. ^ Government. Shots from the box . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1994, pp. 18-21 ( Online - Mar. 21, 1994 ).
  12. ^ Public Relations. He wanted domination . In: Der Spiegel . No. 38 , 1998, pp. 112 ( online - 14 September 1998 ).
  13. ^ Clemens von Frentz: Josef von Ferenczy. PR legend broke , August 22, 2001, at manager-magazin.de .
  14. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Josef von Ferenczy
  15. ↑ Peter T. Schmidt: Ferenczy: The "doyen of power" died as a poor man , Münchner Merkur (merkur-online.de), May 31, 2011
  16. ↑ quoted from Riehl-Heyse: Götterdämmerung. The masters of public opinion . 1999, p. 119.
  17. ↑ 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 Ferenczy, Josef von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Hungarian media manager, publisher and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH April 4, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Kecskemét , Hungary
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 2011
Place of death Grünwald