Wilhelm Sandmann (publisher)

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Wilhelm Sandmann (born February 7, 1933 in Münster ; † March 13, 2018 ) was a German publishing manager , newspaper publisher and president of the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV).

Life

Wilhelm Sandmann was born in 1933 as the son of an administrative employee and from 1939 - with interruptions due to the aftermath of the Second World War - attended schools in Burgsteinfurt and in his hometown Münster from 1939 to 1948 .

From 1949 to 1952, Sandmann trained as a typesetter before taking a second course in an evening school to catch up on his university entrance qualification . He then studied business administration and economics at the University of Hamburg until 1959 .

Wilhelm Sandmann also began his career in Hamburg in 1960, initially as an assistant in the Hamburg central office of Axel Springer Verlags AG , before working as an assistant to the management of the Berlin newspaper printing company from 1962 to 1966 in what was then West Berlin . He then worked until 1970 as technical operations manager at the Berlin Axel Springer corporate headquarters .

In 1970, Sandmann switched to the Madsack publishing company in Hanover as authorized signatory , where he was promoted to a member of the management board in 1975. As chairman of the management board of the publishing company from 1984 to 1995, he was also the publisher of the daily newspapers Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung and Neue Presse . As chairman of the supervisory board of Madsack's TVN Group Holding at the time , Sandmann inaugurated the Hanover broadcast studio of the private television station Sat.1 in the Anzeiger high-rise in 1985 together with Luise Madsack , Wilfried Hasselmann , Sylvia Madsack and Friedhelm Haak .

In 1995, Sandmann took over as chairman of the board of directors of the Madsack media group.

In 1992, in parallel to his duties in Lower Saxony , Sandmann also took over the chairmanship of the Leipzig publishing and printing company.

In the meantime, Wilhelm Sandmann had also been elected Vice-President of the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers (BDZV) in 1984, and then President in 1992, an office that he held until 2000. During this period of completion of the European single market , he was particularly committed to securing the long-term diversity of the German newspaper landscape. In addition, he always fought for the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of the press , which in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, however, he had seen again and again in danger of deliberate restrictions on the part of political parties, federal or state governments or trade unions.

Another area of ​​work for Sandmann as President of the BDZV was the digitalization of the newspaper industry that began towards the end of the 20th century . He regularly fought with success for the publishing houses' opportunities to participate in the multimedia offerings, which were still new at the time, as well as free and equal access to electronic services.

In 2006, Wilhelm Sandmann, who would later become honorary president of the BDZV, left the Madsack publishing company. On the occasion of his 75th birthday in 2008, in an interview in the daily Main-Echo , he spoke about the falling sales of printed daily newspapers, especially in the big cities, due to demographic change and the increasing number of single households:

"The internet causes problems because the next generation gets information from the internet."

At the same time, he paid tribute to his grandson, who draws "a lot of information" from the net:

"But I don't think that's a substitute for the many things you can find in the newspaper."

Also at the beginning of the 21st century, Sandmann, the former chairman of the Kestnergesellschaft , as well as his wife Ursula , together with Christiane Rischbieter Countess von der Schulenburg with the Kestnerplaquette honored head of the support group of the Kestnergesellschaft , the CEO of VHV Holding AG for the honorary duties of the CEO win the Kestnergesellschaft.

Wilhelm Sandmann was honored with the Great Cross of Merit of the Lower Saxony Order of Merit in 1998 on the occasion of his 65th birthday .

He died on March 13, 2018 at the age of 85.

Media coverage (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ On the death of Wilhelm Sandmann: The gentle publisher Hannoversche Allgemeine of March 16, 2018, accessed on March 17, 2018
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Preview entry Sandmann, Wilhelm in Munzinger Online / Personen - Internationales Biographisches Archiv , last accessed on November 9, 2016
  3. ↑ a b c d Michael Evers (dpa): Firmly believes in the future of printed news / Hanover. After a whole working life for the newspaper, Wilhelm Sandmann (Photo: dpa) continues to believe in the future of printed news on the Main-Echo page of February 7, 2008, last accessed on November 9, 2016
  4. ^ History of the Madsack media group , with a photograph of the situation at the time from the Sat.1 broadcast studio on the madsack.de site , last accessed on November 9, 2016
  5. ↑ a b c BDZV President Wilhelm Sandmann has reached the age of 65 , press release from Bonn on February 4, 1998, last accessed on November 9, 2016
  6. ↑ Henning Queren: Society / Beautiful Letters for Art and Kestner Society on the Neue Presse page of February 10, 2013, last accessed on November 9, 2016
  7. ↑ Bert Strebe : "Art contributes to the dispute" / Uwe H. Reuter is the main part-time chairman of the Kestner Society , in: Neue Presse from May 26, 2016; online at pressreader.com , last accessed on November 9, 2016
  8. ↑ Freedom of the press is a basic value of democracy - high distinction for Wilhelm Sandmann / 65. Birthday on bdzv.de, February 13, 1998, accessed on May 27, 2017
  9. ^ Publisher Wilhelm Sandmann died , welt.de, accessed on March 15, 2018
personal data
SURNAME Sandmann, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German manager and newspaper publisher, President of the Federal Association of German Newspaper Publishers
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Muenster
DATE OF DEATH March 13, 2018