Otto Müller (publisher)

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Otto Müller (born March 3, 1901 in Karlsruhe , † February 10, 1956 in Salzburg ) was an Austrian publisher .

Life

Trained as a banker Müller, until World War I worked in banking, appropriated at the beginning of the 1920s in Graz, the terms of the book and publishing industry, before it on behalf of the since 1930 publisher Styria the publisher Anton Pustet in Salzburg took over the until 1937 he headed and successfully expanded its program with culturally challenging titles. Müller then founded his own publishing house in Salzburg, Otto Müller Verlag , although Innsbruck was initially the place of publication for licensing reasons . Contacts and knowledge that Müller had acquired during his work at Pustet helped him to quickly build up the young publishing house.

The annexation of Austria to Germany initially did not make Müller's business difficult; the elimination of the border actually meant a relief. By this time, 15 books had already been published by Otto Müller Verlag, and by the end of 1939 there were around 50, including veritable representatives of world literature such as Georg Trakl, who died in Krakow in 1914 . The publishing program included titles from fiction, theology and the humanities and was influenced by Christianity and religion. The publishing house saw itself as a cosmopolitan mediator of occidental culture with a Catholic background.

In the following period, Otto Müller Verlag was defamed by the National Socialist literary critic Will Vesper and the publisher's titles were banned by the Nazi authorities. In December 1939 Müller was arrested by the Gestapo for trading in banned printed matter and was only released in July of the following year with the condition that the publishing house be closed - which he did not fulfill. Müller lodged a protest with the Reich Propaganda Ministry , whereupon he was arrested again and given an ultimatum for liquidation. With the exclusion from the Reichsschrifttumskammer , he was banned from the profession only months later.

Müller was able to sell the publishing house to the Berlin publisher Lambert Schneider . Only after the end of the war in 1945 was Müller able to relocate under his own name. After his death Otto Müller was buried in the Salzburg municipal cemetery. The publishing house remained family-owned and is now managed by one of Müller's grandsons, Arno Kleibel.

In 1952 Otto Müller was appointed Commander of the Knightly Order of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem by Cardinal Grand Master Nicola Cardinal Canali and invested in the collegiate church of Nonnberg in Salzburg on August 25, 1952 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ "The history of the Austrian Lieutenancy" , page 33, accessed on March 17, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Müller, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher
DATE OF BIRTH March 3, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 1956
Place of death Salzburg