Rudolf Pörtner

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Rudolf Pörtner (born April 30, 1912 in Bad Oeynhausen ; † September 12, 2001 in Bonn ) was a German journalist and writer .

The son of a commercial employee first attended elementary school and then the Realprogymnasium in Bad Oeynhausen and then the Realgymnasium in Bielefeld until he graduated from high school in 1931. From 1931 to 1933 he studied history , German , economics and sociology at the universities of Marburg , Berlin and Leipzig . In 1933 he started working as a journalist for “Anzeiger und Tageblatt” in Bad Oeynhausen. From 1938 to 1945, with an interruption from 1942 to 1943 as a war correspondent, he worked for the Graf Reischach newspaper service, then editor at the “German newspaper service” in Herford. In Berlin and Bonn he worked as a correspondent for press agencies and later as a freelance writer.

Pörtner achieved great fame with popular scientific non-fiction books . His first work, With the Elevator in Roman Times , written in 1959, became a bestseller . Pörtner dealt with the socio-historical aspects of the cultural encounter between Romans and Teutons , for example on the Limes , in Xanten , Neuss and Trier . In doing so, he drew an arc between archaeological finds and the presence of the reader.

Other non-fiction books on Roman-Germanic antiquity , the time of the Vikings and the Crusades ( Operation Holy Sepulcher ) brought him similar success . In addition, as editor he was responsible for a ten-volume world history of archeology (with Hans Georg Niemeyer ) as well as numerous anthologies on everyday history in the 20th century , in which prominent contemporary witnesses reported on their youth in the Empire and the Weimar Republic .

In 1974 Pörtner received the Ceram Prize from the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn . In addition, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit in 1985 and the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1990.

Works (selection)

  • 1959 With the elevator to the Roman times
  • 1961 Before the Romans came
  • 1964 The Heirs of Rome ( No. 1 on the Spiegel bestseller list in 1964 )
  • 1967 The Roman Empire of the Germans
  • 1971 The Viking saga
  • 1975 brought ancient cultures to light
  • 1977 Operation Holy Sepulcher
  • 1980 Old New World cultures. (in cooperation with Nigel Davies)
  • 1981–1987 The great adventures of archeology. (Ed .; with Hans Georg Niemeyer)
  • 1982 The treasure house of German history. (Ed.)
  • 1984 My parents' house. A German family album (ed.)
  • 1986 Great moments of technology
  • 1987 childhood in the empire. (Ed.)
  • 1989 childhood in the Federal Republic. From the rubble time to the economic miracle (ed.)
  • 1990 Everyday life in the Weimar Republic. (Ed.)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rudolf Pörtner: The traveling students - adventure of the rail line between Oeynhausen and Bielefeld . In: Ratsgymnasium Bielefeld (Ed.): 425 years Ratsgymnasium Bielefeld . Festschrift for the anniversary week from September 22 to 28, 1983. DNB  900361727 , p. 53-57 .
  2. ^ Association of Alumni of the Ratsgymnasium zu Bielefeld: Mitteilungen . September 1981, p. 95 .
  3. ^ Entry "Pörtner, Rudolf". In: Munzinger Online / People - International Biographical Archive . December 31, 2001, accessed August 26, 2018 .
  4. ^ Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn: List of the award winners / scholarship holders. Retrieved July 30, 2018 .
  5. ↑ We in NRW - Order of Merit of the State. Retrieved July 30, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Maria Mester-Grüner: What do you want, your father has an income! (PDF) Prominent contemporaries remember childhood, youth and parental home. In: Landtag Intern. March 19, 1985, p. 18 , accessed July 30, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Portner, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German journalist and non-fiction author
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Bad Oeynhausen
DATE OF DEATH September 12, 2001
Place of death Bonn