Axel Springer,

Born May 2, 1912

by Paul A. Schons

Originally published by the Germanic-American Institute in May, 2001

The Cold War was his passion and his cause. His newspapers were his weapon and his livelihood. Axel Springer, the publishing giant was one of the leading voices of anti-communism and anti-terrorism in the days of the Cold War when Germany was at the front lines in the decades long struggle between East and West. The border ran directly through Germany and again through its largest city, Berlin. Springer fought with words and money. The opposition fought in West Germany with terror, bombs, fire and shrill rhetoric. He was opposed by the Red Army Faction, the Baader-Meinhof group, communists, academics and liberals. He had the support of anti-communists, industrialists, and conservative political figures. He was directly opposed by the influential association of authors, Group 47. His single most visible adversary was the Nobel Prize winning author, Heinrich Böll, whose novel Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum) was a direct attack on the policies and the character of Springer’s largest newspaper, Bild.

Axel Caeser Springer was born on May 2, 1912 in the Hamburg suburb of Altona. His father was active in politics and the publisher of a small newspaper, the Altonaer Nachrichten (the Altona News). Axel worked in his father’s publishing company beginning as an apprentice in 1928 and rising to become the chief editor of the Altonaer Nachrichten. The paper was closed by the Nazis during World War II

After the war Springer began to rebuild the family publishing business with small publishing jobs. The first major publication was a radio program guide and later TV guide, Hör Zu. By 1950 the guide had a circulation of one million. Today it is bought weekly by over two million readers. In 1947 the growing publishing company was restructured and named Axel Springer GmbH. The company began publication of a women’s magazine in 1948, Constanze. Also in 1948 Springer founded a daily paper in Hamburg, the Hamburger Abendblatt. The daily tabloid newspaper Bild was founded in 1952. That paper with all its excesses, controversy, exclusives and daily nude photos would become the flagship of the Springer empire. It became and is yet today the largest selling daily and Sunday paper in Germany. The online version of Bild is one of the most frequently viewed Web news sites in Germany.

In 1953 Springer bought a daily newspaper which had been operated by a British concern, Die Welt. Die Welt is today one of the most respected papers in Germany. It has a daily circulation of over 230,000 and its Sunday edition has a circulation of 430,000. In 1956 Springer added the book publishing company Ullstein to his holdings.

The man who by the 50’s had become a national figure was a strong advocate of German reunification. In 1958 he was able to secure a meeting with the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev and attempted to persuade him to allow German reunification. Failing quite clearly in that effort he would turn his energies to fighting communism with his newspapers and his growing wealth. In 1967 he established firm publication guidelines for all of his papers and magazines consisting of four points: 1. Advocation of reunification for Germany, 2. Reconciliation between Germans and Jews, 3. Rejection of any kind of political totalitarianism and 4. Support of West Germany’s socio-economic system.

Springer’s holdings grew continuously during the period of the Cold War. He added the newspaper Berliner Morgenpost in 1959, the teen magazine Twen and the sports magazine, Kicker in 1965. In 1966 he founded what was to become the most noted parenting magazine in Germany, Eltern. In subsequent years a wide variety of local and regional newspapers were acquired. Numerous new magazines were founded and the Springer group has moved into television and internet services. At one point the group began to achieve monopoly status and new acquisitions were challenged by German antitrust courts.

True to his own policy supporting reconciliation between Germans and Jews he gave millions from his earnings to projects in the state of Israel and in Germany. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bar-llan-University. In 1978 he was awarded the Leo Baeck medal for his efforts toward relations between Germans and Jews.

Springer was clearly also true to his declared policy against communism and in favor of German reunification. For his support of American interests during the Cold War he was presented with the American Friendship Medal. His most dramatic move against the threat of communist East Germany was undertaken at a time when industry was leaving West Berlin fearful of the future there. In a powerful demonstration Springer chose to move the headquarters of his publishing empire from Hamburg to West Berlin. He built a huge high-rise headquarters building near Checkpoint Charlie, only yards from the Berlin Wall. At the top of his building on the East Berlin side he installed an electronic news crawl flashing the news from the “free world to the enslaved Germans in the East”.

Axel Springer died in September of 1985. Controlling interests in his holdings were passed to his heirs with the stipulation that they would not sell until at least 2015.

Today the Springer group is the largest newspaper publisher in Germany with over 180 newspapers and magazines. It has annual sales of over 5 billion marks. Springer is also a major book publisher, has seven radio stations and owns shares of the television networks Prosieben, SAT.1., Kabel 1 and N24. Springer has a number of television production companies and is engaged in numerous internet ventures.