Kurt Braatz

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Kurt Braatz in August 2009 transferring a Douglas DC-3 from Oshkosh to Atlanta

Kurt Braatz (born June 29, 1955 in Seligenstadt ) is a German journalist , communications scientist and manager . He is considered an internationally renowned aviation historian specializing in biographies.

Life

Braatz studied journalism (MA), was a scientist at the Institute for Journalism from 1984 to 1986 and received his doctorate in 1986 with Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with the thesis Friedrich Nietzsche , a study on the theory of public opinion . Previously, under Noelle-Neumann's direction, he had helped develop the theory of the spiral of silence , which, according to Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, is the standard model for explaining the process of public opinion. Until 1988 he worked at the Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach (IfD) as organizational manager and in the fields of political and media research. He then moved to the staff of the Munich publisher Hubert Burda as an assistant , where he was involved in the development and launch of the Forbes and Focus magazines, among other things . At Forbes he headed the Culture & Communication department until 1993. He was also head of strategic planning at Burda .

From 1993 he continued his professional career in public relations , so he was head of corporate communications at the systems and software house Strässle in Stuttgart. In 1996 he was briefly head of press and public relations at Hewlett-Packard in Böblingen. From 1996 to 2002 he was Director Corporate Communications at Microsoft Germany in Unterschleissheim and a member of the management of the company, which at the time was about to be smashed by the Supreme Court of the United States on suspicion of monopoly and was in a serious image crisis. The strategic communication measures with which he tried to protect the group and its founder Bill Gates from the effects of this crisis, Braatz outlined in an article for the industry magazine c't , which gives a rare insight into the world of spin doctors .

From 2002 Braatz was self-employed as a consultant, author and editor in aviation journalism . For the twenty nine six publishing house, in which he is involved, he designed, among other things, a series of biographies about pilots of the Second World War, whose volumes “… a well deserved place among the minority of World War Two memoirs which are held in equally high regard by both historians and literary critics ”. The memories of fighter pilots Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson , Günther Rall , Wolfgang Falck , Paul Zorner , Martin Drewes , Roderich Cescotti and Julius Meimberg were edited by Braatz in Edition 296; also the experiences of the test pilot Wolfgang Czaia on the occasion of his test flights on the replicas of the Messerschmitt Me 262 as well as the '23 flight stories' by the aviation novelist Jochen Missfeldt . As an author, he has published biographies of Günther Lützow , Walter Krupinski , Werner Mölders , Günther Josten and Robert Ritter von Greim (two volumes). In his Mölders biography (2008) he argues that Nazi-critical German church representatives circulated the so-called Mölders letter . As a consultant, he accompanied the production of the ZDF three-part series 'Goering - a career' as well as several foreign productions. In 2011 he produced four episodes of the 14-part American TV documentary "Missions That Changed the War" on the aerial warfare over Europe with actor and director Gary Sinise . In 2010 he had already been awarded the Golden Badge of Honor of the Association of Aviators of the German Armed Forces for his services to air war history. After he was the only specialist journalist at the time to sharply criticize the safety deficiencies of the Red Bull Air Race in the Süddeutsche Zeitung , the Austrian beverage manufacturer temporarily suspended the spectacular aerobatic racing series.

Kurt Braatz has been Head of Strategy and Corporate Communications at the defense technology manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann since May 2012 . As a co-founder of the renowned Einhard Prize in his hometown Seligenstadt, he promotes outstanding works of biography. Braatz has been an aviator since he was 14 years old. He holds German, European and US licenses and an aerobatic rating .

Fonts (selection)

Monographs

  • Friedrich Nietzsche - A study on the theory of public opinion (= monographs and texts on Nietzsche research . Volume 18). de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 1988, ISBN 3-11-011337-6 .
  • Sheep pasture. German history at the air force deployment port in Zellhausen 1937–1945 . Edition Twenty-nine Six, Moosburg 2001, ISBN 3-9807935-0-8 .
  • God or an airplane. Life and death of fighter pilot Günther Lützow . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2005, ISBN 3-9807935-6-7 .
  • Werner Mölders. The biography . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-9811615-3-3 .
  • Walter Krupinski. Fighter pilot, secret agent, general . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811615-5-7 .
  • Robert of Greim. Volume I: Fighter pilots in the First World War . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-9818324-0-2 .
  • Robert of Greim. Volume II: Hitler's Last Field Marshal . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-9818324-1-9 .

Editorships

  • Julius Meimberg: Enemy contact. Memories 1939–1945 . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2002, ISBN 3-9807935-1-6 .
  • Günther Rall: My flight log. Memories 1938–2004 . 2nd edition, Twenty-nine Six Verlag, Moosburg 2004, ISBN 3-9807935-3-2 .
  • Wolfgang Falck: The falcon years. Memories 1910–2003 . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2004, ISBN 3-9807935-2-4 .
  • Wolfgang Czaia: Project 262nd diary of the test pilot . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2006, ISBN 3-9807935-7-5 .
  • Paul Zorner: nights in the bomber stream. Memories 1920–1950 . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-9807935-9-9 .
  • Clarence Anderson: ... for flying and fighting. Memories 1922–1999 . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-9811615-2-6 .
  • Martin Drewes: sand and fire. Fighter pilots in Iraq and over Germany . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-9811615-6-4 .
  • Günther Josten: Combat report. War Diaries 1939–1945. Commodore in the Starfighter Crisis . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-9811615-7-1 . (in cooperation with Wilhelm Goebel)
  • Roderich Cescotti: Long-haul flight . Memoirs 1919–2012 . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-9811615-8-8 .
  • Jochen Missfeldt: When there comes time, comes space. 23 flight stories . Twenty-nine six publishing house, Moosburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-9811615-9-5 .

Filmography

  • 2011: Missions That Changed the War (TV)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Kurt Braatz: Dr. Kurt Braatz . In: Welt am Sonntag , November 12, 2000, No. 46, p. B1.
  2. ^ Braatz, Kurt: Friedrich Nietzsche. A Study of Public Opinion Theory. Berlin / New York: de Gruyter 1988
  3. ^ Noelle-Neumann, Elisabeth: Public opinion. The discovery of the spiral of silence. Frankfurt am Main / Berlin: Ullstein 1991
  4. ↑ Company . In: Advertising & Selling , No. 1, January 12, 1996, p. 36.
  5. ↑ Company . In: Advertising & Selling , No. 26, June 28, 1996, p. 44.
  6. ↑ Company . In: Advertising & Selling , No. 47, November 22, 1996, p. 54.
  7. ^ Kurt Braatz: Selling Bill. In: C't 5/2009. Pp. 212–214 , accessed on July 25, 2013 (paid article).
  8. ^ Schmider, Klaus: Last of the First, in: Journal of Military History, Vol. 73, No. 1/2009, pp. 231–248, here: p. 240
  9. ↑ a b Bärbel Albold Kölleda: Contemporary history without filters . In: Thüringer Allgemeine , December 17, 2011, p. 19.
  10. ↑ Klaus Späne: In the crosshairs of the Nazi investigators. Why the Homburg pastors Wilhelm Burggraf and Philipp Keutner were interrogated by the Gestapo . In: Taunus-Zeitung , February 20, 2010, p. 2.
  11. ^ Episodes cast for "Missions That Changed the War". Internet Movie Database, accessed July 25, 2013 .
  12. ^ Kurt Braatz: Air race in the Lausitz. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . August 2, 2010, accessed on July 25, 2013 (fee-based article).
  13. ↑ Information press contact on www.kmweg.de
personal data
SURNAME Braatz, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German communication scientist, aviation historian, communication manager and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH June 29, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Seligenstadt