Günther Nenning
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Günther Nenning (December 23, 1921 – May 14, 2006) was an Austrian journalist, author, and political activist. Günther Nenning was born in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria. After an excellent performance in high school, Nenning served from 1940 to 1945 in the German
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
. At the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he was arrested by US forces, but soon released on condition that he stay in the Western sector. He studied
linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
and
religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...
in
Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
, being promoted Dr. phil. and Dr. rer. pol. in 1949 and 1959 respectively. He died in
Waidring Waidring is a municipality in the Kitzbühel district in the Austrian state of Tyrol located 20 km northeast of Kitzbühel and 9 km east of Kirchdorf in Tirol near the border with Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns ...
,
Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...
aged 84.


Journalism

During his studies he started his journalistic career, first as a writer, later as vice chief editor of the socialist daily newspaper ''Neue Zeit''. In 1958 he switched as co-owner to the cultural journal
FORVM ''FORVM'' was an Austrian monthly cultural and political magazine, published in Vienna from 1954 to 1995, founded by Friedrich Hansen-Loeve, Felix Hubalek, Alexander Lernet-Holenia and Friedrich Torberg with the financial and logistical suppor ...
in Vienna, in 1965 he followed
Friedrich Torberg Friedrich Torberg (16 September 1908, Vienna, Alsergrund – 10 November 1979, Vienna) is the pen-name of Friedrich Kantor, an Austrian writer. Biography He worked as a critic and journalist in Vienna and Prague until 1938, when his Jewish h ...
as owner and chief editor, changing the name to ''NEUES FORVM''. Nenning left the journal in 1970, handing it over as community property to a club of writers and employees. He founded a youth journal in 1973, but due to legal and financial problems had to stop it in 1975. Since the early 1970s he wrote as a columnist for major Austrian newspapers. Joining the socialist faction of the
Austrian Trade Union Federation The Austrian Trade Union Federation or Austrian Federation of Trade Unions ( de: ''Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund'', abbreviated OeGB or ÖGB) is a labour union of employees. It is constituted as an association and is subdivided into seven ...
(ÖGB), in 1960 he became chairman of the Austrian Journalists' Union. Accused of intending to form his own media union, in 1985 he was expelled from the Austrian Trade Union Federation, causing hundreds of journalists to leave the ÖGB in protest. In 1990 he was fully rehabilitated, and received honors for 50 years of membership in 2000.


Politics

Nenning's political views were "multicolored", and not confined to a single party. He termed himself "Rot–grün–hellschwarzer" (red–green–light-black, referring to
socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
, greens and conservatism). He participated in the protests for an Austrian media reform in 1964, in the early 1970s against the
war in Vietnam The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, and in 1978 against the planned nuclear power plant in
Zwentendorf Zwentendorf an der Donau is a small market municipality in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is located at , in the Tulln Basin on the southern bank of the Danube. The place attained public attention as the site of the only Austrian nuclear ...
. In 1984 he was one of the leading
protesters A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
against the
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power plant at Hainburg, which earned him the nickname "Auhirsch" (meadow deer). He was one of the most influential mentors in the early years of the then forming
Austrian Green Party The Greens – The Green Alternative (, ) is a green political party in Austria. The Greens currently sit in opposition. Formerly, they were part of the Schallenberg government, the Second Kurz government, and the Nehammer government. It won ...
. His green activities and ecologically motivated rants against socialist members of parliament caused the Austrian socialist party to expel him in 1985. A month later Nenning joined the
Swiss socialist party The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland (, SP; ), also called the Swiss Socialist Party (; , PS), is a political party in Switzerland. The SP has had two representatives on the Federal Council since 1960 and received the second-highest number ...
. Nenning had always been an ardent activist for women's rights, and called himself a convinced
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
.


Books and TV

Günther Nenning was a prolific author, who also directed TV movies and a documentary for the
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...
(Austrian television). Among others, he was TV host of the talk show ''Club 2'' (
ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the g ...
) and host of the German TV talk show ''III nach 9'' ( ARD). In addition to his many authored books, Nenning spent the final year of his life editing a 21-volume anthology of Austrian literature after 1945, first called "Austrokoffer" (Austro-suitcase; it was designed to fit in a large, brightly decorated carrying case) and then received the less controversial title of "Landvermessung" (Land-measuring or Land-surveying). It became a cause celebre when critics felt that Nenning was unqualified to edit such a collection and some major authors like
Elfriede Jelinek Elfriede Jelinek (; born 20 October 1946) is an Austrian playwright and novelist. She is one of the most decorated authors to write in German and was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature for her "musical flow of voices and counter-voices ...
refused to contribute work due to government funding of the project. 139 authors eventually found representation in the well-designed collection, which had to be issued in a second limited edition due to public demand.


Notes and references


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nenning, Gunther 1921 births 2006 deaths Theodor Körner Prize recipients Recipients of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria Radio Bremen people 20th-century Austrian journalists Austrian military personnel of World War II German military personnel of World War II