Robert Jungk

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Robert Jungk (born May 11, 1913 in Berlin ; † July 14, 1994 in Salzburg ; actually Robert Baum ) was a publicist , journalist and one of the first futurologists . In 1986 Jungk received the Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize).

Youth and Emigration

Robert Jungk was the son of the dramaturge, actor and director David Baum (stage name Max Jungk , 1872-1937) and the actress Sara Bravo (stage name Elli Branden , 1885-1948). His family belonged to assimilated Judaism .

As a student at the humanistic Mommsen- Gymnasium (today Heinz-Berggruen-Gymnasium in Berlin-Westend ) in Berlin-Schöneberg , he took part in the anti-bourgeois youth movement " Comrades, German-Jewish Wanderers ", and was a member of the Socialist Students' Union (SSB), an organization , which was close to the Communist Party opposition , and the International Workers Aid (IAH). After graduating from high school in 1932, he tried his hand at Richard Oswald's assistant director and played a supporting role in the film Weird Stories . He then took up a philosophy degree at Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität and participated in the group of opponents initiated by Harro Schulze-Boysen .

Shortly after the Reichstag fire , Jungk was arrested for tearing the front pages of the Völkischer Beobachter off the university's bulletin board, but was released again with the help of his friend Sven Schacht , nephew of Reichsbank President Hjalmar Schacht . Before the Reichstag elections in March 1933 , he left for Seefeld in Tyrol . In May 1933 he emigrated to Paris via Zurich . This was followed by studies at the Sorbonne , film work in France and Spain and activities for German-language press services for emigrants. In 1936 he briefly returned to his parents in Berlin, where contact with Harro Schulze-Boysen was revived. In November 1936 Jungk, like his parents immediately afterwards, had to flee to Czechoslovakia ; during his time in Prague he made friends with Peter Weiss .

While Robert Jungk stayed away from the quarreling groups of political emigration, he maintained intensive contact with the group of Marxist psychoanalysts around Otto Fenichel and Steffi Bornstein.

In May 1938 he evaded the threatened German occupation to Zurich. Wilhelm Reich's book Mass Psychology of Fascism had inspired him to write a historical doctoral thesis "on the psychological reasons for the collapse of great empires". The negative reaction of the doctoral supervisor Karl Meyer initially put an end to Jungk's academic ambitions. Instead, he was temporarily involved in setting up a press service in London. From 1939 to 1945 he worked for Swiss daily and weekly newspapers under various pseudonyms , in particular as F.L. for Weltwoche . In June 1943 threatened him with deportation to Germany, only the intercession Emil Oprecht u. a. led to internment, first in the St. Gallen penal institution, then in the Möhlin labor camp, and finally in Castle Burg im Leimental.

Post War and Peace Movement

After 1945 he lived in Paris, Washington, DC and Los Angeles and worked as a correspondent for Swiss, German, Dutch and French media. In 1957 he moved to Austria with his wife Ruth , initially to Vienna . From 1970 the couple lived in Salzburg.

In 1952 his first work appeared, The future has already begun , dealing with questions about the future of mankind.

Jungk was one of the most important pioneers of the international environmental and peace movement . He invented the future workshops , founded the Robert Jungk Library for Future Issues in 1985 and the review magazine proZukunft in 1987 . In 1963 Jungk was a founding member of the Institute for Contemporary Social Issues eV From 1964 he was co-editor of the book series Models for a New World . In the same year he founded the Institute for Future Issues in Vienna. One of his employees at this institute was Ernst Florian Winter . Robert Jungk coined the term “atomic state” in 1977 with his book of the same name. From 1980 Jungk was active in the peace movement. In the hot autumn of 1983 he took part in the sit-down at the US base in Mutlangen and was the speaker at the large demonstration in Bonn's Hofgarten .

Although he states in his own résumé that he was only involved in the peace movement from 1980 onwards, there is evidence that he did so as early as 1960 in relation to the Easter March against nuclear weapons in East and West, appeared as a speaker at closing rallies and drafted an appeal in 1962 , following on from the statement in the first Easter March leaflet from 1960 (Do you have faith in the power of the individual!): “Who can prevent a third world war? YOU - can prevent it (...) Use your chance today and here, defend the life and freedom of your family now! Join the Easter marches against the nuclear weapons of every nation! "

In the federal presidential election in Austria in 1992 , he stood as a candidate for the Green Alternative . He received 5.7 percent of the vote.

From 1948 Robert Jungk was married to Ruth Suschitzky, cousin of Edith Tudor-Hart and Wolfgang Suschitzky . In 1952 their son Peter Stephan Jungk was born.

Robert Jungk and Science Journalism

Jungk was one of those who - also because of his own contributions - dealt early with the role of science journalism. His book “Und Wasser breaks den Stein” contains several sections in which he comments on the growing importance of this then little-used department and the need to adapt journalist training to it.

Under the heading “Should journalists study nuclear physics?” He wrote in July 1975: “It should be considered whether the study of natural sciences and technology should not finally be included in the curriculum of general journalism training.” Jungk also stated: “ Certainly today there are more popular scientific articles or whole supplements in the daily and weekly newspapers. It is also true that radio and television are more often devoted to topics from the world of research than before. ”(Quoted from the dtv paperback edition, p. 165). Jungk himself wrote columns for “X-Magazin” and “Bild der Wissenschaft” from 1972 to 1985 and combined - as in his books - the work and point of view of a scientist with that of a science journalist.

Robert Jungk was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Salzburg .

Awards

Honors

The City Network NRW e. V., in cooperation with the Robert Jungk Library for Future Issues, Salzburg, and the Ministry for Generations, Family, Women and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, awarded the Robert Jungk Prize for Civic Engagement every two years from 1999 to 2011 . The award honors pioneering projects and initiatives that sustainably improve the quality of life of people in the cities and communities of North Rhine-Westphalia with social responsibility and community-oriented activities.

The Robert-Jungk-Oberschule in Berlin-Wilmersdorf and the Robert-Jungk-Gesamtschule in Hüls (Krefeld) were named after him. The latter even has a tree - based on his actual surname - in the school logo.

Each year the Robert Jungk library awards for Future Studies in cooperation with the city of Salzburg , the Robert Jungk scholarship for future research.

Quotes

"Knowledge not only goes out through open doors, but also flows in."

"By sharing your knowledge with others, you do not lose it, it does not become less, but it attracts other knowledge."

Works

Individual evidence

  1. Robert Jungk: Nevertheless . Knaur, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-426-75074-0 , p. 69 .
  2. Jungk: Still. 1993, p. 151.
  3. Jungk: Still. 1993, p. 163.
  4. A review of the first three volumes from 1964 by Walter Gyssling in the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung library can be found here http://library.fes.de/gmh/main/pdf-files/gmh/1964/1964- 12-a-743.pdf
  5. Markus Gunkel: Our no to the bomb is a yes to democracy. Easter March North 1960–1969. GNN Verlag, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-926922-29-X , p. 41
  6. Vita Robert Jungk ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on the website of the Jungk Library for Future Issues @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jungk-bibliothek.at
  7. Robert Jungk Prize 2009. How do we want to live? Civil society is shaping demographic change ( memento of the original from July 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on the website of the NRW Cities Network, accessed on May 11, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.robertjungkpreis.nrw.de
  8. Robert Jungk Prize 2009. Review of the RJ Prize 1999–2007 ( Memento of the original from August 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on the website of the NRW Cities Network, accessed on May 11, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.robertjungkpreis.nrw.de
  9. Robert Jungk Scholarship for Future Issues. Retrieved September 20, 2018 .
  10. ^ A b Robert Jungk: Nevertheless: My life for the future . C. Hanser, Munich a. a. 1993, ISBN 978-3-446-16187-0 .

Web links