In 1946 the new era begins

After the end of the war, Germany was still in ruins when the first issue of the weekly newspaper "Die Zeit" was published on February 21, 1946. Their goal:always "tell the truth unvarnished".

by Irene Altenmüller

"The years that lie behind us have shut the German reader off from the world, wrapped him in the fog of propaganda and the harsh weaned from the language of facts. Today it is not just a matter of clearing away rubble from the streets of bombed-out cities, but also the spiritual burdens of a bygone era, and that can only happen if we have the courage to speak the truth frankly. Only in the atmosphere of incorruptible truth can trust grow."

With these words, the editors of "Zeit" describe in their first edition of February 21, 1946 how they see their task in Germany, which was destroyed by the Second World War. The publishers are among the first to help the free press in Germany get back on its feet after twelve years of Nazi dictatorship.

British military government grants license

After a trade union newspaper, "Die Zeit" is the second newspaper to appear in Hamburg after the end of the war. The first edition is only eight pages long. Only a week earlier, the British military government had granted the four founders - in addition to the later sole owner Gerd Bucerius, the former Hamburg building director Richard Tüngel, the former publishing salesman Ewald Schmidt di Simoni and the art historian Lovis Lorenz - the license to publish. Initially, 25,000 copies will be printed. They are available for 40 pfennigs and sell like hot cakes - supposedly not so much because of what they contain, but mainly because fish and vegetable traders urgently need the paper to wrap their goods.

Flight and expulsion - Topics of the first issue

In addition to articles on the first United Nations meeting and the new government in Brazil, the authors of the first issue deal primarily with the situation in devastated Germany. Nine months after the end of the war, millions of people are homeless and affected by flight and expulsion. On the title page, an expressive woodcut catches the eye:an image of three people - uprooted people, refugees - floating on an ice floe in the sea. Below is a text that seven and a half decades later seems oddly up-to-date again:

"15 million people are wandering through Germany or have only found poor emergency accommodation, refugees from the bombed cities, from the war-ravaged districts, ... exiles from neighboring countries."

Hamburg coat of arms gives way to Bremen key

Every article initially passes through British censorship. But not only the British watch "Die Zeit", but also the Hamburg Senate. He forbids the newspaper from using the Hamburg city coat of arms in the headline as misuse of national emblems. A changed coat of arms with an open city gate is also met with disapproval. From issue 19 onwards, the key from the Bremen city coat of arms adorns the title - with the official permission of the city of Bremen.

The British removed the first editor-in-chief, Ernst Samhaber, from his post as early as August 1946. Not only had he sharply criticized British occupation policy. It also came to light that he had worked for both Nazi newspapers and the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. Right-wing conservative Richard Tüngel succeeds him as editor-in-chief.

Countess Dönhoff sets "Die Zeit" on a liberal course

Marion Gräfin Dönhoff is the liberal counterweight in the editorial department. It is included from issue 5. "It was a great intellectual awakening after a terrible period of lawlessness," recalls the later editor-in-chief and publisher in 1996, who died in 2002. They wanted to give people an orientation and create "a really good newspaper that could provide arguments and not some kind of doctrine".

Under editor-in-chief Tüngel, "Die Zeit" continued to drift to the right until the 1950s. When Carl Schmitt, a former Nazi lawyer, even gets a say in the paper, Countess Dönhoff resigns in 1954 and only returns after Tüngel has left the editorial office. Together with Gerd Bucerius, who has been the sole proprietor of the newspaper since 1957, she put "Die Zeit" on a liberal course that the weekly newspaper has maintained to this day.

1983:Helmut Schmidt becomes editor

In the 1960s, "Die Zeit" criticized the CDU's rigid Ostpolitik and advocated a rapprochement. Willy Brandt later says that "Die Zeit" prepared his Ostpolitik in Germany. In 1983 Helmut Schmidt became the new publisher after being voted out as Federal Chancellor. "When Gerd Bucerius asked me, I was very happy to do it," Schmidt recalled in 2006. He was pleased to be able to do "something completely different, something new" after a long time as a professional politician.

"Die Zeit" remains successful

Many prominent names are associated with "Zeit":In addition to Bucerius, Schmidt and Dönhoff, these include Theo Sommer, Michael Naumann and Giovanni di Lorenzo. A number of politicians, scientists and writers have written guest articles. Despite many changes and adjustments, the weekly newspaper is still considered the paper of academics and intellectuals to this day - and thus apparently continues to appeal to readers' tastes. While many newspapers have lost circulation as a result of digitization, "Die Zeit" has been able to increase its sales figures in recent years, both among digital customers and among subscribers to the paper edition. even increase it slightly.