Richard Rickelmann

Richard Rickelmann (born December 26, 1939 in Ibbenbüren ) is a German journalist . He was a long-time editor at the magazines Spiegel and Stern .

Life

Richard Rickelmann grew up in Ibbenbüren. There he lived in a house with his grandfather Hubert Rickelmann . In his childhood and youth he often accompanied the local researcher on his explorations in the neighboring town of Mettingen . Hubert Rickelmann finally wrote the book Mettingen through the ages about his home village , which appeared for the first time in 1953. After finishing school, Richard Rickelmann began studying chemistry in Munich , but dropped out after a while. He finally got into journalism through Ferdinand Schulte, editor of the Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from 1951 to 1972 . His first work was court reports. Rickelmann completed his traineeship at Ruhr Nachrichten in Dortmund and Recklinghausen . This was followed by jobs at the industrial courier and the Handelsblatt .

In 1970 he switched to Spiegel as editor and later became head of the Düsseldorf office . From 1975 to 1979 he was press spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Labor and Health, Friedhelm Farthmann (SPD). Then he returned to the mirror . There he worked closely with Hans Leyendecker , among others . Together they researched the Mafia in Germany and the illegal arms trade for 15 years . This also resulted in two books, the Exporters of Death , written together with Leyendecker . German armaments scandal in the Middle East (1990) and - in collaboration with Leyendecker and Georg Bönisch - Mafia in the state. Germany falls under the robbers (1992). Rickelmann also wrote about the " López Affair" between 1993 and 1996 at Volkswagen AG and the Hombach case in 1998/1999. In total, Rickelmann worked as a business correspondent for Spiegel for 23 years , was one of its most prominent authors and earned the reputation of being one of the best and most investigative journalists in Germany. On July 1, 1999, he switched to Stern , for which he worked as a reporter for politics and business for ten years .

Since then, Rickelmann has been working as a freelance journalist for Stern as well as for the ZDF programs Frontal21 , ML Mona Lisa and today journal with a focus on medical topics. His most recent work Deadly Harvest (2012) deals with the conditions in the European agro-industry and analyzes in detail the alliances between seed manufacturers, chemical industry, agricultural industrial companies and their influence on politics in Germany and the European Union. The work made it to the top of the Spiegel bestseller list. Seldom has it been so thoroughly disclosed how ruthlessly parts of the agricultural and food cartel are cashing in.

The journalist was also a co-founder and temporary member of the board of the Alexandra Lang Foundation, which has existed since 2004 and which helps victims of medical malpractice.

Through his grandfather Hubert Rickelmann's book, Mettingen through the ages , he finally came back into contact with his old homeland, the Tecklenburger Land : When the Heimatverein Mettingen was planning a third edition, Richard Rickelmann and his brother Hans-Hubert left as legitimate heirs to this the rights to it. Richard Rickelmann also contributed a foreword to the Heimatbuch published in 2010.

Richard Rickelmann lives in Kall in the Eifel .

Fonts

• together with Hans Leyendecker : Exporters of Death. German armaments scandal in the Middle East , Steidl, Göttingen 1990, ISBN 3-88243-180-6 (5th edition with the addition exporters of death. German armaments scandal in the Middle East. List of names: Die German armaments workers of Saddam Hussein , Steidl, Göttingen 1991, ISBN 3-88243-180-6 )
• together with Hans Leyendecker and Georg Bönisch : Mafia in the state. Germany falls under the robbers , Steidl, Göttingen 1992, ISBN 3-88243-231-4 (4th edition, Steidl, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-88243-231-4 )
• together with Rainer Fromm : Ware patient. What our medical care really suffers from , Eichborn, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-8218-6522-5
• Deadly harvest. How the agrarian and food cartel poisoned us , Ullstein 2013, ISBN 978-3-548-37495-6

Web links

• Article by Richard Rickelmann in the Spiegel Archive Spiegel Online
• Literature by and about Richard Rickelmann in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short biography and reviews of works by Richard Rickelmann at perlentaucher.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Oliver Langemeyer: The Tüöttendorf Mettingen rediscovered . In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung , online version of September 29, 2010  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved November 16, 2010  
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Personal section . In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from April 24, 1999
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} N.N: What does ... Richard Rickelmann actually do . In: Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung from November 13, 2010
4. ↑ Thomas Schuler : Der Wühler. The CDU and its donations - a case for the investigative journalist Hans Leyendecker . In: Berliner Zeitung , online version of December 21, 1999 ; Retrieved November 16, 2010
5. ↑ cf. this article by Richard Rickelmann at Spiegel Online
6. ↑ cf. for example Klaus Ott : “Spiegel” springboard: Klaus Wirtgen and Richard Rickelmann, two of the most prominent authors, go to “Stern” . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , Germany Edition / F, Volume 55, No. 79 of April 7, 1999, ISSN  0174-4917 , p. 23
7. ^ Statements by the then Stern editor-in-chief according to Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung on April 24, 1999
8. ↑ Short biography of Eichborn-Verlag  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ; Retrieved November 16, 2010  
9. ↑ website of the Alexandra Lang Foundation ; Retrieved November 16, 2010