Paul Osthold

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Paul Osthold

Paul Osthold (born June 11, 1894 in Hagen , † September 17, 1979 in Wissen ) was a German political scientist . In addition to his work as managing director of the German Institute for Technical Work Training, DINTA for short, Osthold also worked as editor-in-chief and publisher of the magazines "Der deutsche Volkswirt" and "Der Employer". In 1964, Osthold was awarded the Great Federal Cross of Merit for his services in the field of economics and for his commitment to the interests of German employers' associations .

Paul Osthold in conversation with Gerhard Erdmann (left) and employer president Hans Constantin Paulssen

Live and act

After the end of the First World War , which he experienced between 1914 and 1917 as a lieutenant, awarded the Iron Cross First Class (EK I), initially on the Eastern Front and later until his captivity in April 1917 in France , Osthold took in 1921 Königsberg to study political science . Before he was awarded a doctorate in political science in 1926 in Münster with a thesis on the relationship between Marxist socialism and German state thought in the First World War, Osthold had run for the DNVP in the Reichstag elections in 1924 . During the Weimar period, Osthold was the managing director of DINTA. In this position he wrote the work “The Struggle for the Soul of Our Worker” in 1926, which historians consider the institute's political manifesto and a continuation of Chancellor Hans Luther's considerations on the “Influence of modern large-scale economy on religion” from 1925 represents. The much-acclaimed work is characterized primarily by the author's preference for the economic forms and industrial relationships established in the USA, which Osthold sought to transfer to Germany.

After DINTA was renamed "German Institute for National Socialist Technical Work Training" by the National Socialists in 1933 and robbed of its original influence, Osthold was appointed editor-in-chief of the "German Economist" and was able to represent the interests of German employers in this function until 1945 . Since Osthold had refused to become a party member despite a request from the NSDAP , he was attacked in 1934 in the Stürmer . After 1945 Osthold belonged to the group of founders of the magazine “Der Employer”, the central organ of the Federation of German Employers' Associations (BDA) , of which he was editor-in-chief until he retired in 1964. Gerhard Erdmann , managing director of the BDA from 1949 to 1963, later honored Osthold as a "publicist of the German economy, unaffected by the political upheavals of that time". For his services in the field of economics and the interests of German employers' associations, Osthold was awarded the Great Federal Cross of Merit in Cologne in 1964 . Paul Osthold is the grandfather of the historian and publicist Christian Paul Osthold.

Osthold (right), Theodor Heuss (center)

Literature (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Easter battle at Arras 1917 ; in: Battles of World War. Volume 28. Berlin: Gerhard Stalling. 1929, pp. 51, 60.
  2. ↑ Karsten Uhl: Humane Rationalisierung ?: The spatial planning of the factory in the Fordist century . Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag. 2014, p. 178. ISBN 978-3-8376-2756-5
  3. ↑ Paul Osthold: The struggle for the soul of our worker: Thoughts on the Manifesto d. Imperial Chancellor Dr. Luther at the Stockholm Church Conference and ways of carrying it out in practice . Düsseldorf: Industrie-Verlag u. Printing house. 1929. DNB 575325615
  4. ^ German entrepreneurs between the war economy and reconstruction. Studies on the experience building of industrial elites . Edited by Paul Erker and Toni Pierenkemper; in: Sources and representations on contemporary history. Volume 39. Munich: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. 1999, p. 188. ISBN 978-3-486-56363-4
  5. ^ Gerhard Erdmann: Paul Osthold ; in: The employer. 1964, p. 342.
personal data
SURNAME Osthold, Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German political scientist
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Hagen
DATE OF DEATH 17th September 1979
Place of death Knowledge