Thomas Paulwitz

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Thomas Eckart Robert Paulwitz (born July 13, 1973 in Eichstätt ) is a German historian , journalist and publicist . In 2000 he co-founded the print and online newspaper Deutsche Sprachwelt , whose editor-in-chief he is still active today. Paulwitz was one of the spokesmen for the withdrawal of the 1996 reform of German spelling . Since 2011 he has been the spokesman for the Working Group on the Street of the German Language , and since 2015 Chairman of the Board of the Theo Münch Foundation for the German Language .

Life

Origin, history and corporation

Paulwitz claims to have East Prussian ancestors. He comes from a forester family and grew up in the forester's house in Gungolding near Eichstätt. Until his Abitur in 1992, he attended the Willibald High School in Eichstätt.

He then studied biology from 1992 to 1995 up to the preliminary diploma examination at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg . In 2001 he gained with a thesis on Richard Scheringer and National Bolshevism the Master's degree (MA) in History and Political Science . During his studies he joined the Association of German Students in Erlangen (VDSt), a member association of the Kyffhäuser Association . From 2002 he was a short-term doctoral student .

Journalism and membership in language societies

He has been working as a freelance journalist since 1995. He published u. a. at Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , Ostpreußenblatt , Deutschland-Journal , Die Freie Welt and Junge Freiheit . In addition, after the spelling reform he wrote several letters to the editor for the daily newspapers Nürnberger Nachrichten and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), in which he criticized the changes made.

Paulwitz was or is active in various language societies. In 2007 he founded the Neue Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft (NFG) in Köthen to maintain the German language and became its assessor. For the 2009 Bundestag election , in his function as a board member, he criticized the election programs of most of the Bundestag parties from a linguistic perspective; Only that of the CSU found approval . In 2009 he became a councilor for language maintenance in the Pegnese Flower Order , which is a member of the NFG. He is also a member of the Swiss Orthographic Conference (SOK). Since 2011 he has been the spokesperson for the Street of the German Language Working Group, which in the future is to symbolically connect several holiday resorts in central Germany .

Lecturing at organizations and in the media

He gave numerous lectures a. a. at the Köthener Sprachtag, the editorial conference of the Bild newspaper, at a language symposium at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, at the German Language Network, at the East and Central German Association of the CDU and at student associations. In 2008 he was a member of the expert group of an online discussion forum "Does German Have a Future?" The FAZ , the u. a. and Wolf Schneider , Edda Moser , Jürgen Trabant , Paul Kirchhof , Klaus Reichert and Cem Özdemir belonged. In 2012 he was together with the CSU politician Manfred Weber and the radio presenter Michael Skasa a guest at the Munich Press Club on the subject of “Is Germany abolishing its language?” And in 2013 together with the linguist Anatol Stefanowitsch , who in 2011 initiated a counter-petition to “German into the Basic Law” in which ZDFinfo telecast Lass'ma talken Digga: Does the German language to be protected? In addition, Deutschlandfunk , n-tv and Bayern held 2 discussions with him about the Straße der deutschen Sprache project . In addition, he presented the project at the Leipzig Book Fair , and in 2012 he was a speaker on the subject of “Germany is getting rid of its handwriting!” At the Frankfurt Book Fair .

In 2013, together with Stefan Barth , he was named “Gerch” ( Georg ) and won the naming scheme for the tower guard at Nuremberg's Imperial Castle, suggested by the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance .

Voluntary work and family

He is also co-founder of the initiative "Save the Children from champagne Lonnerstadt" which in 2012 a vigil in Lonnerstadt in Bavaria, Erlangen-Höchstadt held, and published in 2013 in the regional newspaper Fränkischer Tag the letter faith gives maintenance . He also appeared briefly in the contribution "Sektenkinder - Streit ums Kinderwohl" on the WDR broadcast Menschen and took a position on the case on the controversial broadcast of the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation .

Paulwitz is married and has two children; he lives in Nuremberg . His brother Michael is also a journalist and historian.

Publication of the folk dictionary "Engleutsch"

Paulwitz published the folk dictionary Engleutsch together with Stefan Micko . The Association for German Spelling and Language Maintenance (VRS) from Schwaig near Nuremberg was involved both as publisher and financier. In it, the authors criticized the use of Anglicisms in the German language . Paulwitz blames “lack of linguistic loyalty” for this use of Denglish . In order to counter this, one has to “strengthen awareness of the value of the mother tongue”.

Paulwitz himself previously explained the competitive term Denglisch :

“We consider the recently adopted term 'Denglish' to be inappropriate because it is too supple and not ugly enough. In addition, English has already gained the upper hand in Denglish; German is only represented by one letter. This excess weight seems too hopeless and does not do justice to the appearance of the language mix. "

The reaction to the book went so far that the then Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel ( ÖVP ) suggested new keywords to the editors of the book. According to Paulwitz, it has been sold 35,000 times. The science journalists Hans Friedrich Ebel , Claus Bliefert and Walter Greulich count Micko and Paulwitz among those authors who oppose a development “with biting humor and the necessary expertise”. Criticism of the VRS, of which Paulwitz is a member, was expressed to the effect that a "certain [...] affinity to politically right-wing groups" ( Falco Pfalzgraf 2003) could be ascertained. Controversial activities by members of the association were also discussed in the online encyclopedia Wikipedia .

Co-founder of the German language world

German language world

Because of the great reception of his work, he founded the print and online newspaper Deutsche Sprachwelt with the Austrian writer Stefan Micko in 2000 , of which he is the editor to this day. Until 2003 he was co-editor of the paper. The association for language maintenance (VfS) acts as the sponsoring association and has moved its headquarters to Erlangen.

Critical relationship to foreign words

In the years that followed, he kept coming back to negatively speaking about the Germanized English vocabulary. a. of football terms , also on the occasion of the 2006 World Cup , and of advertising slogans and slogans. But he is not against foreign words per se. But he warns: "If we just keep on watching and not actively do something against the mixing, many of today's languages will actually die out ". One of the messages received from Paulwitz is the question of identity . Paulwitz explains this metaphorically: "Of course, our language is not endangered by a single English word, but by the torrent of Engleutsch that breaks in on it". He also wants to increase the importance of the German language in the European Union by pulling German with English and French . For this he called holistic publications in German language for the decisions of the European Union.

Criticism of the spelling reform

As editor in 2004, he openly demanded the complete withdrawal of the spelling reform introduced in Germany in 1998. He suggested that national newspapers such as the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Welt should first reintroduce the classic language. In the same year he also criticized the reform plans for the pronunciation of numbers by the Bochum mathematics professor Lothar Gerritzen . He called on the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) to “keep his election promise to reform the spelling as soon as possible”. He described individual improvements as "Babylonian madness". After the complete withdrawal of the reform by politicians with the introduction of new versions, most recently in 2006, was successfully counteracted, Paulwitz initiated a “tombstone of German spelling” on the Internet.

Further positions as a language teacher

He also criticized the bad pronunciation of sports reporters in the course of the 2004 European Football Championship and warned in 2005 against the excessive use of superlatives . In 2005 he supported the debate initiated by Federal President Horst Köhler about more faithfulness to the work in German theater. In 2008 he criticized the national soccer coach Jogi Löw for his language. On the occasion of the round of 16 between Germany and England at the 2010 World Cup , he criticized the inappropriate "war rhetoric" in the reporting. He also turned against the pilot project Grundschrift (2011) of the primary school association with a signature campaign . In 2012 Paulwitz denied the mixed languages ("Kiez-Deutsch") of people of Turkish origin in Germany the status of the dialect . In January 2013, he turned against the adoption of the word "board member" in the Duden .

Political classification

In 2006 Paulwitz opposed the right-wing extremist NPD , which tried to co-opt the campaign “German compulsory for politicians”. He explained: “Committing to an understandable and citizen-oriented language cannot be made the matter of a radical fringe party, which also repeatedly sidelines itself through questionable statements.” In the summer of 2013 he said: “Because with these two Language care is not at all compatible: with extremism and totalitarianism, whether they come from the far right or the far left or even from the middle of power. Extremists aim to manipulate language; to dictate to others what they can say and think. "

In addition to his regular authorship for the right-wing conservative weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit , he also wrote articles for the Ostpreußenblatt . In 1998 (and in the Prussian Communications from 2000 to 2001) he published a series on the history of " Conservative Socialism ". The social economist Ralf Ptak judges: “The target corridor of the 'third way' proclaimed here seems to move in the area of ​​an authoritarian-based conservative - liberal synthesis, the legitimacy of which is to be supported by social pathos - a link that similarly determined the ordoliberal post-war draft . "

Paulwitz gave lectures at the Hamburg Freedom Talks of the State and Economic Political Society (SWG), at the Bund Young East Prussia of the East Prussian Landsmannschaft and in 2003 at the right-wing society for free journalism (GfP). In October 2007 Paulwitz described the lecture as a "mistake" and distanced himself from the GfP. In addition, in 1998 he was, according to his own statements, from February to May "coordinator" of the working group Our Language (ARKUS), a subdivision of the Verein Unser Land - Scientific Foundation for Germany from Starnberg, around the self-confessed "National Pacifist " Alfred Mechtersheimer .

The Cologne Germanist Karl-Heinz Göttert , with reference to his exclusion from the rather conservative German Language Association (VDS), considers Paulwitz to be a "journalistic right wing". Paulwitz was excluded from the VDS because of behavior that was harmful to the association. However, some regional groups and members of the VDS did not, as requested by the board, distance themselves from Paulwitz; there were also double memberships in the language societies.

Awards

Fonts (selection)

Editing

  • With Stefan Micko : Engleutsch? No thanks! How do I say it in German? A folk dictionary. 2nd edition, Association for Language Maintenance, Erlangen [u. a.] 2000, ISBN 3-00-005949-0 .
  • Give the German language a future! Answers in the "reading room" of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) (= Writings of the German Language World, 1). Association for language maintenance, Erlangen 2008.

Contributions to edited volumes

  • English or German? Let's let our mother tongue shine again! In: Herbert Fiebiger and Diethelm Keil (eds.): 1881–2006. 125 years of German student associations. Volume 2: facing the future. Academic Association Kyffhäuser, Bad Frankenhausen 2006, ISBN 3-929953-07-2 , pp. 137-143.
  • Dieter Stein (Ed.): Save the German language. Contributions, interviews and materials on the fight against the spelling reform and Anglicisms 1999–2004 (= documentation, volume 9). Edition JF, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-929886-21-9 (seven articles in total).

Technical articles

  • Out and about on the “Street of the German Language”. Part 1. In: Wiener Sprachblätter 62 (2012) 1, p. 6 ff.

literature

  • Katrin Kästner: Thomas Paulwitz. In: Association of Friends of the Willibald-Gymnasium Eichstätt eV (Ed.): Willibaldiner about Willibaldiner. Polygon-Verlag, Eichstätt 2008.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b About me , network diary, accessed on October 23, 2013.
  2. a b c d e f g h Leben , website by Thomas Paulwitz, accessed on September 14, 2013.
  3. ^ Thomas Paulwitz: Richard Scheringer. Search for ideas and consistency. A contribution to the history of national Bolshevism . Master's thesis, Nuremberg 2001.
  4. a b c d Network of Antifascist Education (Ed.): Specialties from Middle Franconia. An overview of right-wing and right-wing extremist structures . Anti-fascist documentation and information project, Berlin 2003, p. 19.
  5. a b News March 23, 2004 ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Pegnesischer Blumenorden.
  6. Thomas Paulwitz ( Memento of the original from August 19, 2013 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. , Die Freie Welt, accessed November 8, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.freiewelt.net
  7. a b Helmut Kellershohn : Short chronology of "Junge Freiheit" 1986 to 2006. In: Stephan Braun , Ute Vogt (ed.): The weekly newspaper "Junge Freiheit". Critical analyzes of the program, content, authors and customers. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2007, ISBN 978-3-531-15421-3 , p. 54.
  8. ^ Matthias Bartl: A new alliance for the German language . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung , January 11, 2007.
  9. Thomas Rinke, Claus Blumstengel: Demand from Köthen to the EU . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung , June 2, 2006.
  10. Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (=  Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 153.
  11. Thomas Paulwitz , XING , accessed on September 14, 2013.
  12. Uwe Menschner: Street of the German language is taking shape. In: Lausitzer Rundschau , February 16, 2013.
  13. ^ Publication , website of Thomas Paulwitz, accessed on September 14, 2013.
  14. Is Germany abolishing its language? ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 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. , PresseClub Munich, February 20, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cbctv.de
  15. E-petition against “German in the Basic Law”. In: Junge Freiheit , January 29, 2011.
  16. Lass'ma talken Digga - must protect the German language , ZDF , 2013.
  17. Michael Köhler: Tummelstunde, teutsch ( Memento from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), so to speak! ( Bayern 2 ), February 15, 2013.
  18. Michael Köhler: Teutsche Sprachkultur ( Deutschlandfunk ), January 31, 2013.
  19. Route connects 25 cities , n-tv , March 30, 2011.
  20. ^ Go to the Street of the German Language , Leipzig Book Fair , March 15, 2013.
  21. Germany is doing away with its handwriting! ( Memento of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Frankfurt Book Fair , October 12, 2012.
  22. Söder opens the renovated Imperial Castle ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2016 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. , Press release of the Bavarian State Government, July 11, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bayern.de
  23. Thomas Paulwitz: Faith gives stability . In: Franconian Day , March 2, 2013.
  24. ^ Children of sects: Controversy about the best interests of the child ( Memento from April 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Menschen hautnah (WDR), April 4, 2013.
  25. Checking: The champagne children Lonnerstadt ( Memento of 21 February 2014 Internet Archive ), controversial ( Bayerischer Rundfunk ), July 10, 2013.
  26. ^ A b c Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (=  Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 127.
  27. Kristin Otto: Eurodeutsch - Studies on Europeanisms and Internationalisms in German Vocabulary. A work from the perspective of Eurolinguistics using the example of newspapers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol . Logos-Verlag, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-8325-2323-7 , p. 14.
  28. a b c d e Holger Dreiseitl: So that the party becomes a feast . In: Nürnberger Nachrichten , October 8, 2001.
  29. ^ Jürgen Spitzmüller: Meta-language discourses. Attitudes to Anglicisms and their scientific reception . de Gruyter, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-11-018458-3 , p. 189.
  30. Engleutsch? , Deutsche Sprachwelt, accessed on September 16, 2013.
  31. ^ Hans Friedrich Ebel, Claus Bliefert and Walter Greulich: Writing and publishing in the natural sciences . Wiley, Weinheim 2006, ISBN 3-527-30802-4 , p. 558.
  32. Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (= Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 128.
  33. Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (=  Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 122.
  34. Janna Degener: When Languages ​​Die , Goethe-Institut , January 2010.
  35. ^ "More Latin instead of English" . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , February 22, 2011, p. 23.
  36. ^ Ingo von Münch : Legal policy and legal culture. Comments on the state of the Federal Republic of Germany . Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8305-1712-2 , p. 80 f.
  37. Sebastian Mense: Sprachschützer demand red for foreign football words . In: Passauer Neue Presse , October 14, 2006.
  38. Stefan Greiner: Customers often don't understand the message . In: Mitteldeutsche Zeitung , March 30, 2011.
  39. ^ Jürgen Spitzmüller: Meta-language discourses. Attitudes to Anglicisms and their scientific reception . de Gruyter, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-11-018458-3 , p. 136.
  40. Arno Stoffels: Nothing good language? In: Nürnberger Nachrichten , February 21, 2004.
  41. ^ Maciej Pławski: On selected aspects of language and identity in advertising . In: Jürgen Schiewe , Ryszard Lipczuk, Krzysztof Nerlicki, Werner Westphal (eds.): Communication for Europe II. Language and identity . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-631-58014-1 , pp. 185-193.
  42. ^ Jürgen Spitzmüller: Meta-language discourses. Attitudes to Anglicisms and their scientific reception . de Gruyter, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-11-018458-3 , p. 198.
  43. German words instead of anglicisms . In: Sächsische Zeitung , February 21, 2007, p. 10.
  44. dpa: Language activists demand EU rescue package for German. In: Bild newspaper, September 7, 2012.
  45. Spelling debate: dissent is capitalized . SPON , August 9, 2004.
  46. Spelling reform: withdrawal requested . In: Badische Zeitung , January 3, 2004, p. 1.
  47. underlined . In: taz , May 23, 2004, p. 16.
  48. Christoph Drösser : No more turning numbers? In: Die Zeit , January 22, 2004.
  49. Spelling: “Again nothing finished”. SPON, June 3, 2005.
  50. "Babylonian Insanity" . In: Focus , June 3, 2005.
  51. ^ "Internet monument" for the authors of the spelling reform. In: Handelsblatt , August 1, 2006.
  52. "We are European champions in stupid commenting" . In: General-Anzeiger , June 30, 2004, p. 26.
  53. Squeezed out . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung , February 10, 2005, p. 18.
  54. "Schiller turned around in the grave". What theater makers from the region think of Horst Köhler's faithfulness debate . In: Nürnberger Nachrichten , May 7, 2005.
  55. ^ A b c Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (= Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 123.
  56. Day sixteen . In: Berliner Morgenpost , June 26, 2010, p. 25.
  57. ^ Mara Gergolet: L'Anello mancante dei Nibelunghi. In: Corriere della Sera , October 28, 2013.
  58. Linguist: Kiez German is not a dialect . In: Heilbronner Voice , February 21, 2012, p. 21; Jannis Androutsopoulos , Katharina Lauer: 'Kiezdeutsch' in the press: History and use of a new label in the metalanguage discourse . In: Seyda Ozil , Michael Hofmann, Yasemin Dayioglu-Yücel (ed.): Jugendbilder. Representations of youth in the media and politics (= Turkish-German studies . 2013). V & R Unipress, Göttingen 2013, ISBN 978-3-8471-0191-8 , pp. 67–93, here: p. 83.
  59. Daniela Wiegmann: Duden wants to include “board member”. In: manager magazin , January 14, 2013.
  60. The "board members" are on their way to the Duden. FAZ .net, January 12, 2013.
  61. The "board members" are on their way to the Duden. In: Handelsblatt , January 12, 2013.
  62. "Board members" on the way to the Duden. In: Der Standard , January 13, 2013.
  63. ^ Thomas Paulwitz: The "German compulsory for politicians" campaign remains strictly non-partisan. May 2006.
  64. Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (= Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 333.
  65. Thomas Paulwitz: Language maintenance is necessary! In: Deutsche Sprachwelt 52 (02/2013), p. 4.
  66. a b Ralf Ptak : The social question as a political field of the extreme right. Between market economy principles, premodern anti-capitalism and socialism demagogy . In: Jens Mecklenburg (ed.): Brown danger: DVU, NPD, REP. History and future (= Antifa edition ). Elefanten Press, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-88520-721-4 , pp. 97-145, here: p. 113 f.
  67. Thomas Paulwitz: The forgotten alternative. Conservative socialism (parts 1 to 6). In: Preußeninstitut (Ed.): Preussische Mitteilungen , No. 157 to 162, April 2000 to February 2001.
  68. Non-profit relativization of war guilt and the Holocaust? - Recent developments at the State and Economic Policy Society (SWG). In: Antifascist info sheet 91/2011, pp. 26-27.
  69. ^ Anton Maegerle , Stephan Braun : Albrecht Jebens. A "jack of all trades" . In: Stephan Braun, Daniel Hörsch (ed.): Right networks - a danger . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-8100-4153-X , p. 110.
  70. Federal Ministry of the Interior (ed.): Verfassungsschutzbericht 2012 . Berlin 2012, pp 130-131 ( PDF ( Memento of the original December 28, 2013 Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested Please review the original and archive link under. Instructions and then remove this notice. ) . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.verfassungsschutz.de
  71. ^ Thomas Paulwitz: Conservatives and the NPD
  72. Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (= Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 133.
  73. ^ Karl-Heinz Göttert : Farewell to mother tongue. German in times of globalization . S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2013, ISBN 978-3-10-029715-0 , o. P.
  74. Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (=  Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 345.
  75. Karoline Wirth: The German Language Association: Background, Development, Work and Organization of a German Language Association (=  Bamberg Contributions to Linguistics . Volume 1). University of Bamberg Press, Bamberg 2010, ISBN 978-3-923507-65-8 , p. 346 f., P. 353 f.
  76. Dankwart Guratzsch: German is more than a means of communication. In: Deutsche Sprachwelt. Issue 27, spring 2007, p. 27 ( PDF ).