Günter Wallraff
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Günter Wallraff (born 1 October 1942) is a German writer and undercover journalist.


Life

Günther Wallraff was born in Burscheid as the son of a Ford worker and a factory owner's daughter. After attending high school, he trained as bookseller until 1962. He began writing poetry as early as the 1950s. Wallraff invoked his constitutional right of conscientious objection to
conscription in Germany Between 1956 and 2011, Germany conscripted men subject to mandatory military service (, ). After a proposal on 22 November 2010 by Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, the German Minister of Defence at the time, Germany put conscription into abeyance ...
into armed military service, thus being required to carry out
alternative civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious o ...
. Having missed the deadline for filing his refusal, he was nevertheless drafted into the ''
Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...
''. Wallraff refused to use the weapon within the Bundeswehr. During his time in the Bundeswehr in 1963, he kept a diary about his service. When he announced the publication of the diary, the military leadership offered to release him if he refrained from publishing it. Wallraff rejected that. He was admitted to psychiatric ward of the Bundeswehr hospital in
Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...
(Bundeswehrzentralkrankenhaus Koblenz). In 1964 he was diagnosed by a military doctor with an "abnormal personality" and "unfit for war and peace" ("untauglich für Krieg und Frieden") and was released from service. In the 1960s, the Bundeswehr was a place where many former Nazi officers served, Wallraff later said. His experiences from this time were published in 1970 in the anthology ''"From one who moved out and learned to fear"''. In this book he processed his time in the psychiatric ward of the Bundeswehr hospital in Koblenz. The involuntary role as a psychiatric patient became a key experience and starting point for his later literary work. Wallraff described himself as a person with a weak ego. However, this weak ego also accounts for his ability to empathize with others. From 1966 Walraff was editor of the magazine ''Pardon'', from 1968 on for magazine ''
konkret has been the name of two German magazines. was originally the name of a magazine established by Klaus Rainer Röhl in 1957, that was an influential magazine on the German political left in the 1960s. The magazine was dissolved in 1973 as a c ...
'' and from 1973 a freelance author. Throughout his life, Wallraff repeatedly hosted persecuted prominent artists in his house for a period of time. For example,
Wolf Biermann Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song " Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976. Early life Biermann was ...
after his expatriation from the GDR or
Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...
after he was given a
fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...
.


Research methods

Wallraff came to prominence thanks to his striking journalistic research methods and several major books on lower class working conditions and
tabloid journalism Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalist journalism, which takes its name from the tabloid newspaper format: a small-sized newspaper also known as a half broadsheet. The size became associated with sensationalism, an ...
. This style of research is based on what the reporter experiences personally after covertly becoming part of the subgroup under investigation. Wallraff would construct a fictional identity so that he was not recognisable as a journalist. In the German newspaper ''
Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...
'' of 1977 Walraff formulates a sentence that is central to his work: ''“If I want to make myself the mouthpiece of the voiceless who have little to say even though they have a lot to say, that means to me that I am one of them, at least temporarily."''


Undercover journalism

Wallraff first took up this kind of
investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, racial injustice, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend m ...
in 1969 when he published ''13 unerwünschte Reportagen'' ("13 undesired reports") in which he described what he experienced when acting the parts of an alcoholic, a homeless person, and a worker in a chemicals factory. He travelled to Greece in May 1974 at the time of the Ioannides military dictatorship. While in
Syntagma Square Syntagma Square (, , "Constitution Square") is the central square of Athens, Greece. The square is named after the Greek Constitution of 1844, Constitution that Otto of Greece, Otto, the first King of Greece, was obliged to grant after a popular a ...
, he protested against human right violations. He was arrested and tortured by the police as he purposely did not carry on him any papers that could identify him as a foreigner. After his identity was revealed, Wallraff was convicted and sentenced to 14 months in jail. He was released in August, after the end of the dictatorship. In 1977 Wallraff worked for four months as an editor for the tabloid ''
Bild-Zeitung ''Bild'' (, ) or ''Bild-Zeitung'' (, ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' () is published instead, which has a differen ...
'' newspaper in
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
, calling himself "Hans Esser". In his books ''Der Aufmacher'' (a pun meaning both "Lead Story" and "the one who opens") and ''Zeugen der Anklage'' ("Witnesses for the Prosecution") he portrays his experiences on the editorial staff of the paper and the journalism which he encountered there, which at times displayed contempt for humanity. In 1987 the journalist
Hermann L. Gremliza Hermann Ludwig Gremliza (20 November 1940 – 20 December 2019) was a German Far-left politics, radical left journalist. Gremliza was born in Cologne. In the 1960s he studied in Tübingen. He learned the profession working at ''Der Spiegel'', and ...
claimed that he, rather than Wallraff, had written parts of ''Der Aufmacher''. The book also formed the basis for the English-language film '' The Man Inside'' from 1990, starring
Jürgen Prochnow Jürgen Prochnow (; born 10 June 1941) is a German actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Commander "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film ''Das Boot''. He is also known for his r ...
as Wallraff. '' Ganz unten'' ("Lowest of the Low") (1985) documented Wallraff's posing as a Turkish "
Gastarbeiter ; ; both singular and plural) are foreign or migrant workers, particularly those who had moved to West Germany between 1955 and 1973, seeking work as part of a formal guest worker program (). As a result, guestworkers are generally considered t ...
", and the mistreatment he received in that role at the hands of employers, landlords and the German government. In 1986 he was awarded Laureate of the International Botev Prize. In December 1996, Wallraff met with PKK leader
Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...
at a Syrian training camp to discuss ''The Surahs'' of Kurdish dissident Selim Çürükkaya, who was threatened with death because of this book. Wallraff was warmly received by Öcalan thanks to his role as the Turkish worker "Ali", but failed in getting the murder order overturned. The conversation was printed by ''Die Zeit''. In January 2003, Russia turned away Wallraff and two other Germans, the former labour minister for the CDU
Norbert Blüm Norbert Blüm (21 July 1935 – 23 April 2020) was a German politician who served as a Federation, federal legislator from North Rhine-Westphalia, chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU North Rhine-Westphalia (1987–1999), ...
and Rupert Neudeck, head of the relief organisation Cap Anamur, as they tried to enter the country to work on a human rights article about
Chechnya Chechnya, officially the Chechen Republic, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. It is situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe, between the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. The republic forms a part of the North Caucasian Federa ...
. In May 2007, Wallraff announced that he had started yet another undercover journalist work, this time at a German
call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone ...
. During 2009 he wore
blackface Blackface is the practice of performers using burned cork, shoe polish, or theatrical makeup to portray a caricature of black people on stage or in entertainment. Scholarship on the origins or definition of blackface vary with some taking a glo ...
around Germany in an undercover story to expose latent or explicit racism against
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
men, releasing the documentary ''Black on White'' to show his experiences. Wallraff was criticized by some for this work, such as a suggestion that Wallraff was only interested in earning money from his investigations, or that the method itself was racist. His investigative methods have led to the creation of the Swedish
verb A verb is a word that generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual description of English, the basic f ...
''wallraffa'', meaning "to expose
misconduct Misconduct is wrongful, improper, or unlawful conduct motivated by premeditated or intentional purpose or by obstinate indifference to the consequences of one's acts. It is an act which is forbidden or a failure to do that which is required. Misc ...
from the inside by assuming a role". The word is currently (as of 2023) included in the dictionary
Svenska Akademiens Ordlista ''Svenska Akademiens ordlista'' (, "Word list of the Swedish Academy"), abbreviated SAOL, is a spelling dictionary published every few years by the Swedish Academy. It is a single volume that is considered the final arbiter of Swedish spellin ...
.


Responses and repercussions

Wallraff has been heavily criticised by those on the receiving end of his style of investigation, via attempts to frame his work as breaching privacy rights or revealing trade secrets. Attempts were made on a number of occasions to legally prevent Wallraff's investigative methods, but his actions were regularly ruled constitutional by the courts. The courts opined that
freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...
and
public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...
in areas concerned with the formation of public opinion favoured Wallraff's actions. In balancing public interest with the competing interests of those immediately affected by his actions it follows however that private conversations, for example, may not be published. In September 2003, investigations were made by the
Stasi Records Agency The Stasi Records Agency () was the organisation that administered the archives of Ministry of State Security (Stasi) of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany). It was a government agency of the Federal Republic of Germany. It wa ...
into the Rosenholz files on Stasi workers which somehow got into the hands of the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
; as a result, it was claimed that Wallraff had had connections to the Stasi in the 1960s. Wallraff disputes that he ever actively worked for them. On 17 December 2004, the Hamburg district court ruled on a suit brought by Wallraff that he must not be described as an ''Inoffizieller Mitarbeiter'' or Stasi collaborator (he was being called this above all in newspapers belonging to the
Axel Springer Verlag Axel Springer SE () is a European multinational mass and online media company, based in Berlin, Germany. The company offers printing and publishing of advertisements, digital classifieds portfolio, marketing models and related services. Axel S ...
, the publishers of ''
Bild ''Bild'' (, ) or ''Bild-Zeitung'' (, ) is a German tabloid newspaper published by Axel Springer SE. The paper is published from Monday to Saturday; on Sundays, its sister paper '' Bild am Sonntag'' () is published instead, which has a differen ...
'') as no proof of collaboration could be furnished in the documents which had been presented.


Honours

* 1979 Gerrit-Engelke-Literaturpreis of the city of
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
* 1983 Monismanien Prize of Göteborgs Nation and Uppsala University * 1984 Carl von Ossietzky Medal * 1985 Literaturpreis der Menschenrechte (France) together with
James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'' has been ranked ...
* 1987 British Academy Award of Film and Television Art * 1987 French Media Prize Prix Jean d'Arcy for the movie „Ganz unten“


Literature

* Jürgen Gottschlich (2007): ''Der Mann, der Günther Walraff ist. Eine Biographie.'' Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch GmbH & Co KG


References

*Some of the material in this article is translated from the corresponding article from the German Wikipedia, retrieved 10 April 2005.


External links


Official website
* *
Undercover
''
Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...
Nr. 22, 2007 *
Unser täglich Brötchen
''
Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...
Nr. 19, 2008 *
Unter null
''
Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...
Nr. 11, 2009 *
In fremder Haut
''
Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...
Nr. 43, 2009
Günter Wallraff
in:
NRW Literatur im Netz NRW Literatur im Netz is a German internet database with short biographies of persons who have lived or worked in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Westphälische Literaturbüro (Westphalian office for literature) in Unna operates the biggest database ...
* Barbara Stühlmeyer
''Wegschauen geht nicht''
An interview with Günter Wallraff for his 75. birthday. In: ''Die Tagespost'', 30 September 2017, S. 10 {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallraff, Guenter 1942 births Living people German male journalists German people imprisoned abroad German investigative journalists People from Burscheid Writers from the Rhine Province Undercover journalists German male writers 20th-century German journalists 21st-century German journalists