Max Schneider (journalist)

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Max Schneider (born May 18, 1853 in Muncks , † November 18, 1933 in Rostock ) was a German publicist , publisher and propagandist of early skiing .

Life

After graduating from high school and a few semesters of economics, Schneider bought an estate, which he managed for six years before moving to Berlin , where he worked as a publisher and writer from the mid-1880s. In 1890 he bought the magazine Der Tourist and succeeded in making it the official organ of the Association of German Tourist Associations . Inspired by the successes of Fridtjof Nansen (and often only paraphrasing them in German translation), he lets himself be guided by his enthusiasm for winter sports and thus brings the magazine from an initial 3000 to a circulation of 10,000. In 1892 he published a special edition of the magazine about snowshoeing and its use for hunting, sport and traffic , and subsequently books on skiing in addition to the magazine. In 1893 he founded the Association of Berlin Snowshoe Walkers , had skis produced and sold them with the help of his publications and clubs. After the World War he moved to Rostock , where he also founded a ski club. The beginning of the ski movement was favored by the economic situation, so that it could quickly establish itself internationally and also became part of the Olympic movement in 1924. Schneider was able to benefit from this development and promoted it himself in Germany, while ski pioneers like Arthur Ulrichs did not benefit from the movement. While Allen and Falkner consider Schneider to be an important propagandist for skiing, the Ulmrich holds that he had so little knowledge of skiing and, above all, that he exploited its commercial potential. Under the conditions of the National Socialist state, Schneider became an honorary member of the North German Ski Association in 1933 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ E. John B. Allen: The culture and sport of skiing: from antiquity to World War II . Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press 2007. ISBN 1558496009
  2. Horst Tiwald: data on skiing history . Hamburg 1995 (PDF)
  3. Arnd Krüger (1996). The History of the Olympic Winter Games. The Invention of a Tradition. Matti Goksör, Gerd von der Lippe, Kristian Mo (eds.): Winter Games - Warm Traditions . Oslo: Norsk Idrettshistorisk Vörening 1996, pp. 101-122.
  4. Gerd Falkner : Max Schneider (1853 - 1933): impulse generator, multiplier. SdSnow 32 (2014), 2, 34 - 54
  5. Ekkehart Ulmrich: Max Schneider: Ingenious pioneer and trailblazer of skiing or commercial charlatan? SdSnow 13 (1885), 6, 33-45