New Bündner Zeitung (1892–1974)

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The Neue Bündner Zeitung was a daily newspaper for Graubünden , produced in Chur . It appeared from 1892 to 1974. Its course was initially right-wing liberal, later left-wing democratic and, towards the end of its publication, increasingly independent of parties. Its successor was the Bündner Zeitung (1975–1997) , from whose publishing house the Südostschweiz Mediengruppe emerged in 1997 . - For the 19th century newspaper of the same name, see Neue Bündner Zeitung (1860–1865) .

history

Founded by the right-wing liberals

The founding of the "Neue Bündner Zeitung" was an act of self-defense by the Bündner right-wing liberals. Until 1892 they could count on the support of the Free Rätier . But that year the left-liberal journalist Fritz Manatschal took over the "Free Councilor" and changed its focus. The right-wing liberals feared losing their influence if they did not have their own paper. The 31 right-wing liberal cantonal parliamentarians (grand councilors) formed a stock corporation. This acquired the "Sentische Buchdruckerei" in Chur, as well as the Davoser Zeitung, including the title rights to the former Bündner Volksblatt . This entrepreneurial conglomerate was entrusted with the publication of the "Neue Bündner Zeitung". In the first edition, the editors stated that they intend to continue the political course that the Council of States Florian Gengel had previously advocated at the “Free Councilor”. They distanced themselves from dogmatic guidelines: "We will move forward with the times and therefore cannot tie our hands with all kinds of doctrines in advance for details."

The mouthpiece of the liberals, then the liberals

In the first few years the "Neue Bündner Zeitung" was not very successful and got into financial difficulties. The "Free Rätier" was far more popular. So the vigor of the founding group flagged. In 1897 the newspaper was transferred to the "Sprecher & Valèr printing company". Until 1912 the "Neue Bündner Zeitung" was the organ of the liberal party of Graubünden, but this function was also claimed by the "Free Councilor". Afterwards it was called the "Free Democratic Organ".

Change to the new opposition party

As in 1892, there was a second strange castling in the Graubünden press in 1920. After Fritz Manatschal's death, the "Free Rätier" turned away from social liberal ideas and became a right-wing citizen. The "Neue Bündner Zeitung", on the other hand, broke away from the Liberals and turned to the new Democratic Party of Graubünden . Earlier it became known that some free-spirited politicians had enriched themselves uncleanly by building the hydropower plant. Instead of the insignificant Graubünden Social Democrats, the young freemen brought up these corruption cases - in open opposition to the mother party, which in 1919 led to the split-off and the founding of the Democratic Party.

The democratic alliance applies pressure

On May 1, 1920, the moderate democrat Hans Enderlin (1888–1921) became editor of the “Neue Bündner Zeitung”. On the same day, the newspaper changed the subtitle to "Independent democratic organ". Enderlin shaped the newspaper for decades. The "Neue Bündner Zeitung" and the somewhat populist Democratic Party helped each other to rise, so that the newspaper was able to overtake the "Freie Rätier" in terms of sales and the Democrats became the most important Bündner party. The oppositional self-image of this alliance made open criticism of economic and political clashes possible, which had never before been so thoroughly expressed in Graubünden. On the right, the liberals («Freier Rätier») and the Catholic-Conservatives ( Bündner Tagblatt ) got on the defensive and also formed an informal alliance.

A fiery speech ignites the "Bündner press confusion"

In 1944 the Democrats and the “Neue Bündner Zeitung” launched a culture war against the Catholic Conservatives and the “Bündner Tagblatt”, which went down in the history books as the Bündner press confusion . Gasser points out that the causes of this ideological dispute are deeply rooted in the history of Graubünden. Since the Reformation, Graubünden has been split into Reformed and arch-Catholic valley communities that cultivated different mentalities. The trigger for the fierce polemics was an incendiary speech by the democratic government councilor Andreas Gadient , which was printed as an integral part of the “Neue Bündner Zeitung”. Gadient said dramatically the struggle against the opaque entanglements that existed between the Catholic Church and the Conservative People's Party: «Fight against all dark powers, fight against the abuse of religion! Show the abyss on which we walk! "

Harbingers of the opening society

While the "Free Rätier" stayed aloof, the "Bündner Tagblatt" shot back. It accused the democrats and the "Neue Bündner Zeitung" of inciting the Catholics. In truth, the attackers only want to expand their own power. Over the next five years, both papers got excited in countless articles and commentaries on the role of religion in modern times. The topic was also intensely debated on the letters to the editor. On the part of the "Neue Bündner Zeitung", the editor Paul Schmid-Ammann in particular represented progressive positions that were not accepted by the conservatives loyal to the Pope. Only after he left in 1949 did the waves ebb. Foppa believes that the “Neue Bündner Zeitung” was the first of the German-language newspapers to “address the emerging openness of society and its detachment from overly restrictive guiding principles”. Even after the press battle, the “Neue Bündner Zeitung” was considered anti-Catholic for half a century. It is said that in the 1980s its successor, the Bündner Zeitung , was hidden as a precaution when a Catholic clergyman came on a home visit.

Boom years

In 1955, the "Gasser & Eggerling Kollektivgesellschaft" (later Gasser AG ) took over the "Neue Bündner Zeitung". Even though newspapers from outside the canton and electronic media were increasingly entering the Graubünden market, the newspaper flourished during the 1960s and in 1965 had a circulation of 20,000 copies.

The Democrats tip into the right-wing national camp

In 1971 the former left Democratic Party of Graubünden merged with the farmers, trade and citizens' party (BGB), which was particularly important in the canton of Bern , to form the Swiss People's Party (SVP) , which launched a right-wing national program. The "Neue Bündner Zeitung" gradually broke away from the party and broadened its range of opinions.

Lebrument, who later became the «media mogul of Graubünden», appears

At that time, a new journalistic understanding spread in the press landscape: They no longer wanted to teach readers on behalf of a party , but instead wanted to critically follow the parties' actions on behalf of the readers. Legal journalism found its way into the editorial offices. The "Neue Bündner Zeitung" began to research regional topics in particular and became the only newspaper in Graubünden with a detailed regional section. The offer was supplemented with entertainment elements. These modernization steps were introduced by the new co-editor-in-chief Hanspeter Lebrument . They gave the paper an unassailable lead over the competition. For many years, Lebrument became the defining figure of the media industry in Graubünden and beyond as the head of the Südostschweiz Mediengruppe .

The «Free Rätier» is swallowed

In 1974 “Gasser & Eggerling AG” bought the free-spirited “Free Councilor”, who had been in crisis for several years. Until the end of the year, the “Neue Bündner Zeitung” and the “Freie Rätier” were produced by a joint editorial team, while a new concept was being worked out at the same time. From January 1, 1975, only the fusion paper Bündner Zeitung appeared .

Editors-in-chief / responsible editors of the "Neue Bündner Zeitung"

In the years with an editor-in-chief, only this is listed. In the years without an editor-in-chief, the responsible editors are listed, but not those in the sports and entertainment departments.

  • 1892–1914 Michael Valèr
  • 1914-1923 R. Davaz
  • 1920–1954 Hans Enderlin
  • 1923–1928 H. Jäger
  • 1929–1938 Chr. Michel
  • 1929-1958 B. Mani
  • 1949–1949 Paul Schmid-Ammann
  • 1946–1960 Georg Sprecher
  • 1950–1971 Walter Wirth
  • 1955–1976 Georg Casal
  • 1959–1966 E. Schnöller
  • 1960–1964 E. Lutz
  • 1965–1974 Paul Ragettli

For continuation see Bündner Zeitung (1975–1997)

literature

  • Adolf Collenberg: New Bündner Zeitung. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Daniel Foppa: The history of the German-language daily press in the canton of Graubünden . In: Yearbook of the Historical Society of Graubünden 132, 2002, ISSN  1011-2049 , pp. 1–71, (also Separatum).
  • Albert Gasser: Bündner Kulturkampf. 40 years ago - party and press war on a denominational background . Terra-Grischuna-Buchverlag, Chur 1987, ISBN 3-908133-28-9 , ( topics on the recent history of Graubünden ).

See also

In the 19th century there were newspapers of the same name that are not connected to the events described here:

Remarks

  1. ^ "Neue Bündner Zeitung", 1st sample number, December 8, 1892.
  2. ↑ Gasser (1987), page 24 ff.
  3. ↑ quoted from Foppa (2002), page 15.
  4. ↑ Foppa (2002), page 17.
  5. ↑ Foppa (2002), page 16.
  6. ↑ Foppa (2002), page 18, is wrong when he states that the “Neue Bündner Zeitung” has reverted to its old name “Bündner Zeitung”, because the “Neue Bündner Zeitung” was never called “Bündner Zeitung” before. The former Bündner Zeitung (1830–1858) had nothing to do with the “Neue Bündner Zeitung” described here and appeared at a different time.
  7. ↑ quoted from Foppa (2002), page 67.