Paul Sethe (12 December 1901 – 21 June 1967) was a German writer and journalist.

Life and work

Sethe studied history,

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and

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at the

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. In 1932 he received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

with thesis about the British naval command from 1911 to 1915: "The Missing Sea Battle". From 1934 until the newspaper was banned in 1943 by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

, he was editor of the '' Frankfurter Zeitung''. Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, one of the heads of the

German resistance to Nazism Many individuals and groups in Germany that were opposed to the Nazi regime engaged in active resistance, including attempts to remove Adolf Hitler from power by assassination or by overthrowing his established regime. German resistance was n ...

, had suggested Sethe as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper that the

Widerstand German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...

was planning to publish after the 20 July plot. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Sethe was one of the founding editors of the

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

, which developed very soon to the leading national newspapers in Germany. He announced his resignation 1955 because his co-editors did not share his critical opinion concerning the German foreign policy at that time. Afterwards he wrote for ''

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

'', ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") 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 Th ...

'' and ''Stern''. Paul Sethe was an active member of the

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. In

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the Setheweg (Sethe-path) was named after him in 1980.

Positions

Sethe was one of the leading journalists ("''Doyen of German journalism''", "''grand old man of West German journalism''") of the post-war era in Germany. He regarded his profession as the "''conscience of the nation''". He was considered conservative and wrote primarily about German politics and German history. He argued against one-sided ties to the West and for increased contact with the East, which brought him in conflict with the Federal Government and the mainstream at that time. He was a severe critic of

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...

's foreign policy and advocated rapprochement with the East. Sethe always insisted on his opinion that there had been several "missed opportunities" of German politics, for example the Soviet March note of 1952 as a neglected starting point for reunification. His most cited sentence comes from a letter to the editor in '' Der Spiegel'' on 4 May 1965: “''Freedom of the press is the freedom of two hundred rich people to spread their opinions''.”

Publications

In addition to his journalistic activities, Sethe wrote a number of booksGerman National Library, loc.cit. and historical studies (very short selection): * ''Im Banne der Grauen Eminenz'' (Under the spell of the gray eminence) Stuttgart: Franckh 1936. * ''Schicksalsstunden der Weltgeschichte'' (Fateful hours in world history) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1952. * ''Die großen Tage'' (The big days) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1953 * ''Epochen der Weltgeschichte'' (Epochs of world history) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1955 * ''A Short History of Russia''. Chicago: Gateway Editions 1956 * ''Zwischen Bonn und Moskau'' (Between Bonn and Moscow) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1956. * ''Die großen Entscheidungen'' (The big decisions) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1958 * ''Deutsche Geschichte im letzten Jahrhundert'' (German history in the last century) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1960. * ''Morgenröte der Gegenwart'' (Dawn of the present) Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlagsanstalt 1963. * ''Das Fundament unserer Zukunft'' (The foundation of our future) Düsseldorf: Econ 1964. * ''Russische Geschichte'' (Russian history) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1965. * ''Öffnung nach Osten'' (Opening to the east) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1966. * ''In Wasser geschrieben'' (Written in water) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1968. * ''Das machte Geschichte'' (That made history) Frankfurt: Scheffler 1969. * ''Geschichte der Deutschen'' (History of the Germans) Frankfurt: Societäts-Verlag 1977.

References

Sources

* Berghahn, Volker: "Journalists between Hitler and Adenauer" (Chapter Title: Paul Sethe: Resistance and Its Post- Hitler Moral and Journalistic Consequences), Princeton University Press 2019, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691185071-002 (accessed 18 March 2021) * Der Spiegel Mai 4, 1965 "Letters to the editor": https://www.spiegel.de/politik/bestandsaufnahme-a-5920dfa5-0002-0001-0000-000046272474 * Fischer, Stefan: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mai 10, 2020 "Paul Sethe, der Seher" (Paul Sethe, a conservative, anticipated

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's Ostpolitik) https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/paul-sethe-xliii-der-seher-1.417226 (accessed 18 March 2021) Freimaurer online 5/2012: https://www.freimaurer.online/2012/05/von-think-tanks-und-bruckenbauern-axel-springer-und-sein-%C2%BBfreimaurerisches-geheimnis%C2%AB-%E2%80%93-ein-prominentes-lehrstuck/ (accessed 18 March 2021) * Gründler, Gerhard: Remembering Paul Sethe
Erinnerung an Paul Sethe (archive.org) 2010
(accessed 18 March 2021) * Hamburger Logenblatt: "contents 1949–1975": https://docplayer.org/62458455-Inhaltsverzeichnis-hanseatisches-logenblatt-jahrgang-sortiert-nach-autor-autor-jahr-nr-seite-ordn-nr-titel.html * Jung, Martin: "Sethe, Paul." In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, , p. 276 f. ( Digitized version: https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz121358.html ) * Wilke, Jürgen: "Eine Insel der Freiheit" (an island of freedom), Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 16 November 1916 https://www.faz.net/aktuell/eine-insel-der-freiheit-14530205.html

External links

at the

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sethe, Paul 1901 births 1967 deaths 20th-century German journalists 20th-century German male writers German newspaper editors German male journalists German newspaper founders German Freemasons University of Bonn alumni Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung people