Karl-Hermann Flach (October 17, 1929 – August 25, 1973) was a German

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

of the ''

Frankfurter Rundschau The ''Frankfurter Rundschau'' (''FR'') is a German daily newspaper, based in Frankfurt am Main. The ''Rundschaus editorial stance is social liberal. It holds that "independence, social justice and fairness" underlie its journalism. In Post-wa ...

'' and a politician of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP). Flach was born in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. He became a member of the liberal LDP (in the Soviet zone of Germany) and worked in 1948/1949 for the LDP newspaper ''Norddeutsche Zeitung'' in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

. In October 1949 he fled to

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

and became a member of the FDP. In 1949–1953 he studied political science at the German School of Politics, which is now the Otto Suhr Institute. In 1956 he started to work for the federal headquarters of the party and had important campaign jobs in 1957 and 1961. But in 1962 he left the party organisation for the ''Frankfurter Rundschau'', a leading newspaper then considered liberal. From 1971 on he worked again for the FDP, this time as secretary-general of chairman

Walter Scheel Walter Scheel (; 8 July 1919 – 24 August 2016) was a German statesman. A member of the Nazi Party who joined the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) in 1946, he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and ...

. Being elected to the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

in 1972 he became vice chairman of the Bundestag party. Flach died prematurely in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, aged 43, in 1973 after having suffered a stroke a month before. He was succeeded in the Bundestag by

Barbara Lüdemann Barbara Lüdemann (; 28 April 1922 – 20 February 1992) was a German teacher and politician who served in the Bundestag from 1973 until 1976. A member of the Free Democratic Party from Hesse, she became a prominent figure in German family polic ...

. Flach belonged to the left wing of his party and is considered an important contributor to

social liberalism Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

. He was one of the authors of the left liberal Freiburger Thesen, a programmatic paper the party accepted at its congress in October 1971. The stand for the turn to the left the party started in 1968 to become more independent from the conservatives and have a coalition with the social democrats (1969–1982). He has been honoured with several prizes for his work as a journalist. Later came a foundation and a prize named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flach, Karl-Hermann 1929 births 1973 deaths Members of the Bundestag for Hesse German male journalists 20th-century German journalists Politicians from Königsberg German social liberals German male writers Members of the Bundestag for the Free Democratic Party (Germany) Writers from Königsberg

See also

References