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Wolf Schneider

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Wolf Schneider
Schneider in 2010
Schneider in 2010
BornWolf Dietrich Schneider
(1925-05-07)7 May 1925
Erfurt, Province of Saxony, Prussia, Germany
Died11 November 2022(2022-11-11) (aged 97)
Starnberg, Bavaria, Germany
Occupation
  • Journalist
  • author
  • language critic
Spouse
  • Anna Burgmeier
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1949; div. 1965)​
  • Elisabeth-Charlotte Riemann
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1965)​
Children3, including Curt [de][1]
Website
Official website (in German)

Wolf Dietrich Schneider (7 May 1925 – 11 November 2022) was a German journalist, author, and language critic. After World War II, he learned journalism on the job with Die Neue Zeitung, a newspaper published by the US military government. He later worked as a correspondent in Washington for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, then as editor-in-chief and from 1969 manager of the publishing house of Stern. He moved to the Springer Press in 1971. From 1979 to 1995, he was the first director of a school for journalists in Hamburg, shaping generations of journalists. He wrote many publications about the German language, becoming an authority. He promoted a concise style, and opposed anglicisms and the German orthography reform.

Life

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Schneider was born on 7 May 1925 in Erfurt[2] and grew up in Berlin.[3] Having passed his Abitur, he served with the Luftwaffe until the end of the Second World War. His post-war career began as a translator for the US Army, and in 1947 he joined the Munich-based Neue Zeitung, a newspaper run by the US military government.[4] It was here that he received journalistic training and later worked as an editor. In the early 1950s Schneider was a correspondent for the news agency AP; in later years he was in charge of the news team and correspondent in Washington for the Süddeutsche Zeitung.[5]

In 1966, Schneider joined Stern magazine, where he worked as editor-in-chief, and from 1969 as manager of the publishing house.[5] German media tycoon Axel Springer hired Schneider in 1971 to design the news magazine Dialog, aimed at challenging Der Spiegel's dominant position in the German market.[6] The project ended in failure,[6] however, and Schneider was appointed editor-in-chief of Springer's conservative daily Die Welt, based in Hamburg.[4] Springer dismissed Schneider after only one year.[7]

Schneider remained at Springer as editor-in-chief without portfolio. In 1979, he was appointed the inaugural director of the newly founded Hamburger Journalistenschule, which later became known as Henri-Nannen-Schule.[4] He was to hold this position until 1995.[8] He taught hundreds of students,[9] many of whom are now in prominent positions. He also became widely known during this time as the godfather of concise German prose.[10][11]

In the 1980s and early 1990s, Schneider also presented the NDR Talk Show [de].[4]

Schneider was married and a father of three children.[12][13][14][15] He lived in Starnberg, where he died on 11 November 2022 at the age of 97.[4][11][16]

Language critic

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From 1995, Schneider was a vigorous lecturer on the German language, and gave seminars for press officers and young journalists.[17] He was a prolific writer and produced 28 best-selling nonfiction books,[18] among them staple works on proper German style (e.g. "German for life. What school forgot to teach").[19] His last works were "Speak German", a defence of the German language in the face of anglicisms,[20] and Man: a Career, which tells the story of mankind's rise to mastery of the earth, and plots our uncertain future.[21]

Schneider's ideal was a concise written style, avoiding the typically-German pitfalls of rambling sentences, separated verbs, and complex constructions. Schneider was a critic of the German orthography reform[4] and founded with others the pressure group Aktion Lebendiges Deutsch [de] (Living German).[22] Schneider opposed gender neutrality in the German language.[23]

Awards

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Schneider received several prizes,[24] including the Henri Nannen Prize for his life's work,[3][25][26] and the media prize for language culture (Medienpreis für Sprachkultur) of the Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache.[3] He held a chair as honorary professor at the University of Salzburg.[27]

Publications

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Language

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  • Wörter machen Leute : Magie und Macht der Sprache (in German). München: R. Piper. 1976. ISBN 3-492-02218-9. OCLC 2781113.[28]
  • Schneider, Wolf; Murschetz, Luis [in German] (2001). Deutsch für Profis : Wege zu gutem Stil (in German). München: Goldmann. ISBN 3-442-16175-4. OCLC 248928080.[28][6]
  • Deutsch für Kenner : Die neue Stilkunde (in German). Hamburg: Gruner + Jahr. 1987. ISBN 3-570-07958-9. OCLC 17385563.[28]
  • Deutsch fürs Leben : Was die Schule zu lehren vergass (in German). Reinbek bei Hamburg. 1994. ISBN 978-3-499-19695-9. OCLC 263552413.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Schneider, Wolf (2005). Deutsch! das Handbuch für attraktive Texte (in German). Reinbek bei Hamburg. ISBN 978-3-498-06381-8. OCLC 76561621.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Speak German! : Warum Deutsch manchmal besser ist (in German). Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt. 2008. ISBN 978-3-498-06393-1. OCLC 225871884.[20]
  • Schneider, Wolf (2009). Gewönne doch der Konjunktiv! Sprachwitz in 66 Lektionen (in German). Reinbek bei Hamburg. ISBN 978-3-499-62463-6. OCLC 699916394.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Schneider, Wolf (2011). Deutsch für junge Profis : Wie man gut und lebendig schreibt (in German). Reinbek bei Hamburg. ISBN 978-3-499-62629-6. OCLC 724778708.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Deutsch lebt! Ein Appell zum Aufwachen (in German) (2. ed.), Paderborn: Institut für Betriebslinguistik IFB, Verlag Deutsche Sprache, 2010, ISBN 978-3-942409-01-8

Journalism

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Other topics

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Autobiography

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References

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  1. ^ Fellmann, Max (10 October 2022). "Abschied von CUS". SZ Magazin (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  2. ^ Heine, Matthias (11 November 2022). "Nachruf auf Wolf Schneider: Der letzte Sprachpapst" [Obituary for Wolf Schneider: The last language pope]. Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Wolf Schneider ist tot: Journalistenausbilder und Sprachkritiker mit 97 Jahren gestorben". Der Spiegel (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Journalismus: Publizist Wolf Schneider ist tot". Süddeutsche.de (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Journalist und Sprachkritiker Wolf Schneider gestorben". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  6. ^ a b c "Journalist und Sprachkritiker Wolf Schneider gestorben". tagesschau.de (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Hut ab, Freunde". Der Spiegel (in German). 17 November 1974. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Geschichte". Henri-Nannen-Schule (in German). 10 January 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  9. ^ "Deutscher Publizist und Sprachkritiker Wolf Schneider gestorben". Der Standard (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  10. ^ "Die Memoiren von Wolf Schneider". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). 23 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  11. ^ a b Jungblut, Peter (11 November 2022). ""Große Hartnäckigkeit": "Sprachpapst" Wolf Schneider gestorben". BR24 (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Journalist Wolf Schneider ist tot". Focus (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  13. ^ Haacke, Peter (9 March 2020). "Kandidatur für Profis". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  14. ^ ""Ich hab nie unter meinem Vater gelitten"". taz.de (in German). 24 December 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  15. ^ "Wolf Schneider". Munzinger Biographie (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  16. ^ "SZ-Gedenken.de". Traueranzeigen von Wolf Schneider (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Sprach-Profi und Journalist: Wolf Schneider ist tot". Merkur.de (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  18. ^ "Journalist Wolf Schneider ist mit 97 Jahren gestorben". DWDL.de (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Wolf Schneider: Deutsch fürs Leben. Was die Schule zu lehren vergaß". #lesen.bayern (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Wolf Schneider: Speak German – Haus der deutschen Sprache". Haus der deutschen Sprache (in German). 23 September 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  21. ^ a b "Wolf Schneider: Der Mensch. Eine Karriere". Perlentaucher (in German). 6 October 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  22. ^ "Aktion "Lebendiges Deutsch 2006" der Stiftung Deutsche Sprache – Sprachkreis Deutsch". sprachkreis-deutsch.ch (in German). 9 February 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  23. ^ Gehrke, Christian (3 August 2022). "Sprachpapst Wolf Schneider wettert gegen das Gendern". Berliner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  24. ^ ""Sprachpapst" Wolf Schneider gestorben". MEEDIA (in German). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  25. ^ "Doyen der deutschen Sprache: Wolf Schneider bekommt Nannen-Preis". Aktuelle News (in German). 26 April 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  26. ^ "Wolf Schneider erhält Preis für Lebenswerk". Die Welt (in German). 19 December 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  27. ^ "Prof. Wolf Schneider". Paris-Lodron-Universität Salzburg (in German). 21 February 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  28. ^ a b c Lother, Sophia (11 November 2022). "Bekannter Journalist Wolf Schneider ist tot". Gmünder Tagespost (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  29. ^ "Wolf Schneider: "Überall ist Babylon"". Der Spiegel (in German). 7 March 1961. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  30. ^ "Der Mensch – Wolf Schneider". Rowohlt (in German). 1 April 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  31. ^ Ehlert, Hans (6 July 2014). "Wolf Schneider: Der Soldat". FAZ.NET (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  32. ^ Medicus, Thomas (28 August 2017). "Ja, wo marschieren sie denn?". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 11 November 2022.

Further reading

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