LETTER TO WILLIAM J. CASEY FROM CHARLES Z. WICK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83M00914R002800050073-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 27, 2007
• Sequence Number: 73
• Publication Date: May 12, 1982
• Content Type: LETTER

Mr. Casey,
You will be out of town.
REGRET
 Approved For Release 2007/03/27: CIA-RDP831V4Fb
International
Communication
Agency
United States of America
May 12, 1982
8M6
Axel Springer, the prestigious publisher of a newspaper
chain which reaches more than 18 million Germans and other
Europeans daily, will be in Washington next week.
He has been a strong supporter of the United States and
President Reagan, and this is reflected in the editorial
policies of his widely read newspapers.
We would be honored if you could attend a luncheon in
Mr. Springer's honor on Tuesday, May 18, at 12:30 at the
Watergate Restaurant, 2650 Virginia Avenue, N.W. Please
R.S.V.P. at 724-9042.
Accompanying Mr. Springer will be his wife and two
principal colleagues; Ernst Cramer, Chief Executive of the
Springer Corporation, and Joachim Maitre, Senior Foreign
Affairs Editor.
We look forward to hearing from you, and to the pleasure
of introducing you to a gentleman who is doing all he can
to strengthen the ties between the United States and
Europe.
Kindest regards.
Sincerely,
The Honorable
William J. Casey
Director
Central Intelligence Agency
USICA
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 -Approved- For-Release 20-07/03/27: CIA-RDP83M00914R002800050073-1
SPR INTERNATIONAL
Chair. Turbo Union Ltd.: Dir. Rolls Royce/Turbomece Ltd., Dowty
Group 1980-; Chair. Trustees, Royal Air Force Museum; Gov. Star
and Garter Home; A.D.C. to H.M. The Queen 1957-61, Air A.D.C.
to H.M. The Queen 1970-74; U.S. Legion of Merit. Leisure inter-
ests: shooting, bridge. rugby (spectator), golf. Address: c/o Williams
and Glvn's Bank Ltd., Kirkland House, Whitehall, London, S.W.1,
England.
SPRAGUE, George F., PH.D., n.sC.; American research agrono-
mist; b. 3 Sept. 1902, Crete, Neb:; s. of E. E. Sprague and Lucy K.
Manville; m. 1st Mary S. Whitworth 1926, 2nd Amy M. Millang
1945; twos. two d.; ed. Univ. of Nebraska and Cornell Univ.; Junior
Agronomist, U.S. Dept. of Agric. 1924-28. Asst. Agronomist
1928-34, Assoc. Agronomist 1934-39, Agronomist 1939-42. Senior
Agronomist 1942-58, Principal Agronomist 1958, Leader of Corn
and Sorghum Investigations 1958-72; Prof. Univ. of 111. 1973-:
Fellow A.A.A.S., American Soc. of Agronomy: mem. Nat. Acad. of
Sciences, Washington Acad. of Sciences; Crop Science Award.
Superior Service Award of Dept. of Agric. 1960, .Distinguished
Service Award 1970. Publications: Corn and Corn Improvement
1956, Quantitative Genetics in Plant Improvement 1966: and over
100 research papers in scientific journals. Address: S 12 Turner
Hall, Department of Agronomy. University of Illinois, Urbana, 111.
61801; 2212 S. Lynn. Urbana, Ill. 61801, U.S.A. (Home). Telephone:
1.SPRINGER, Axel; German publisher; b. ^_ Mav 1912, Hamburg-
Altona; is. of Hinrich and Ottilie Springer; m.; twos. (one deceased),
one d.; ed. Realgymnasium, Hamburg-Altona; printing and pub-
lishing apprenticeships with provincial newspapers: received jour-
nalistic training with WTB news agency and on his father's paper
Altonaer Nachrichten; founded own publishing company 1945; now
sole proprietor Axel Springer Publishing Group, consisting of Axel
Springer Verlag A.G., the Ullstein and Propylaen book publishing
companies and Ullstein AV (production and distribution of audio-
visual publications); Hon. Fellow, Weizmann Inst., Israel: Hon.
D.Hum.Litt. (Temple Univ.); Dr.phil. h.c. (Bar-Ilan Univ., Israel
and Hebrew Univ., Jerusalem); Grosses Bundesverdienstkreuz mit
Stern and Schulterband, Bayerischer Verdienstorden; Friendship
Medal of the American Freedoms Foundation, Leo-Baeck Medal;
Publications include: Die Welt, Bild Zeitung, Hamburger Abend-
Berliner Morgenpost,
(Sunday papers); Horn papers); r Funk Bild Uhr (radio n and
Welt
television programme magazines). Publications: Von Berlin aus
gesehen 1971. Aus Sorge um Deutschland 1979 and numerous
articles and speeches. Address: 1 Berlin 61, Kochstrasse 50.
Germany.
' SPRINGER, Sir Hugh Worrell, K.C.M.G.. C.B.E., M.A.; Barbadian
barrister and educationist- b. 22 June 1913, Barbados; s. of Charles
Wilkinson Springer and Florence Springer; m. Dorothy Drinan
Gittens 1942; threes. one d.; ed. Harrison Coll., Barbados, Hertford
Coll., Oxford and Inner Temple, London; practi bsed at Bar of 1940
Barbados 1939-47; mem. House of Assembly, Bar -4 7;
mem. Exec. Cttee., Barbados 1944-47; mem. Educ. Board, Barbados
1944-47; Gen. Sec. Barbados Labour Party 1940-47; Organizer and
first Gen. Sec. Barbados Workers' Union 1940-47; Registrar. Univ.
of West Indies 1947-63; mem. Educ. Authority of Jamaica 1950-56,
ILO Cttee. of Experts on Social Policy in Non-Metropolitan Ter-
ritories 1953-58, W. Indies Trade and Tariff Comm. 1957-58, Uhiv.
Grants Cttee., Ghana 1959, Jamaica Public Service Comm. 1195c9ad
W. Indies Fed. Service Comm. 1960-61; Guggenheim Fellow Harvard Centre for Int. Affairs 1961-62; Senior Visiting
Fellow, All Souls Coll., Oxford 1962-63; Acting Gov. of Barbados
1964; Dir. Inst. of Educ. of Univ. of W. Indies 1963-66; Chair.
Commonwealth Carribbean Medical Research Council 1965-; Sec.
Commonwealth Educ. Liaison Cttee. and Commonwealth Asst.
Sec.-Gen. (Educ.) 1966-70; mem. Council of Bernard van Leer
Foundation 1967-78; Fellow, Royal Soc. of Arts 1968-; mem. of
Bermuda Civil Disorders Comm. 1968; Sec.-Gen. Asscn. of Com-
monwealth Univs. 1970-80; Chair. Commonwealth Human Ecology
Council 1971-, Commonwealth Foundation 1974-77, Trustee
1967-80; Chair. Joint Commonwealth Societies Council 1978-80,
Tenth Anniversary Review Cttee., Univ. of the South Pacific 1979;
Pres. Educ. Section of British Asscn. 1974-75; Vice-Pres. Biitish
Caribbean Asscn. 1974-; mem. Bd. of Dirs., United World Co'lls.
1978-, Bd. of Trustees, Sir Ernest Cassell Educ. Trust 1978-80;
Hon. Fellow, Hertford Coll., Oxford 1974; Hon. D.Sc. Soc. (Laval
Univ., Quebec) 1958; Hon. LL.D. (Victoria Univ., British Columbia,
Univ. of West Indies. St. Andrew's, Manchester, Univ. of New
Brunswick, Univ. of York, Ont. Univ. of Zimbabwe), Hon. D.Litt.
(Warwick, Ulster, Heriot-Watt. Hong Kong, City (London) Univs.),
D.C.L. (Oxford, Univ. of East Anglia) 1980; Silver Medal of Royal
Soc. of Arts 1970. Publications: Reflections on the Failure of the
WHO'S WHO /7 / -? SPY
First Wes-, Indian Federation 1962. Problems of National Level
opment in the West Indies 1965. Barbados as a Sovereign State.
University Government Relations in the West Indies 1967. Re).
evance or Respectability in Education-The Rural Problem 1970.
Educational Aspects of Human Ecology and Development 1971.
and articles in journals. Leisure interests: walking. reading and
conversation. Address: Gihbes. St. Peter. Barbados. W.I. Tel(-
phone: 22591..
SPRINGER, Konrad Ferdinand, DR.PHiL.:: German publisher;
b. 23 Sept. 1925, Berlin; s. of Ferdinand Springer and Elisabeth
Szavozd; in., one s. one d.; ed. Staatliches Kaiserin-Augusta-Gym-
nasium, Berlin. St.aatliches Kant-Gymnasium, Berlin, and Univ. of
Zurich: Partner Springer Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg and New York
1963-. J. F. Bergmanns Verlagsbuchhandlung. Munich 1963-,
Lange and Springer Scientific Bookshop. Berlin 1963-. Springer.
Verlag, Minerva Wissenschaft.liche Buchhandlung, Vienna 1965.
Leisure interest: minerals. Address: Von-der-Tann-St.rasse 17, 69
Heidelberg 1. Federal Republic: of Germany.
s economist and politician: b. 31 Jan.
i
S
w
s
SPUHLER, Willy;
1902; ed. Gymnasium of Zurich and Univs. of Zurich and Paris:
Statistician, Zurich 1931-34; Head of Employment Bureau. Zurich
1935-42; Head, Cen. Office of War Economy 1939-48; mem. Zurich
Fed.
Town Council 1942-59; mem. Nat. Council mem. Fed. Council 1959-70, Pres. Jan.-Dec. 19 3, Jan.-Dec. 1968,
Vice-Pres. Jan.-Dec. 1967: Head of Transport. Communications
and Power Dept. 1959-65: Head of Fed. Political (Foreign Affairs)
Address: Hi schengraben 20, Zurich, Switzerland. land.vTelepho e: 0)-
471133.
SPULER, Bertold, DR. PHii..; German orientalist (retd.); b. 5 Dec.
1911, Karlsruhe, Baden: s. of Dr. Rudolf and Natalena (nee Lindner)
Spuler; in. Gerda Roehrig 1937; two s. one d.; ed. Univs. of Hei-
delberg, Munich, Hamburg and Breslau; Collaborator Soc. for
Silesian History 1934-35; Asst. Dept. of East European History.
Univ. of Berlin and Co-editor Jahrbucher for Geschichte Ost.eu-
ropas 1935-37: Asst. Dept. of Near Eastern Studies, Univ. of
Gottingen 1937-38, Dozent 1938-42; Full Prof. Univ. of Munich
1942, Gottingen 1945, Hamburg 1948-80; Ed. Der Islam 1949-,
Handbuch der Orientalistik 1952-, Studien zur Sprache, Geschichte
and Kultur des Islamischen Orients, 1965-; Co-editor Das Histo-
rische- Politische Buch 1953-79; Hon. Dr. Theol. (Berne), Hon. D.
es Lettres (Bordeaux). Publications include: Die europaische
Diplomatie in Konstantinopel his 1739 1935. Die Minderheiten-
schulen der europaischen Turkei von der Reformzeit. his zum
Weltkriege 1936. Die Mongolen in Iran: Politik, Verwaltung and
Kultur der Ilchanzeit 1220-1350 (Turkish edn. 1956, Persian edn.
1972). Die Goldene Horde, Die Mongolen in Russland, 1223-1302
1943, Die Gegenwartslage der Ost.kirchen in ihrer staatlichen and
volklichen Umwelt 1948, Geschichte der islamischen Lander im
Uberblick I: Chalifenzeit: II: Mongolenzeit 1952-53, Iran in fri.ihis-
lamischer Zeit: Politik. Kultur, Verwaltung and offentliches Leben
633-1055 1952 (Persian edn. 1970), Regenten and Regierungen der
-Welt 1953. 1962-66, 1971 (English edn. 1977),.
Forschungsbericht: Der vordere Orient in islamischer Zeit 1954,
The Age of the Caliphs 1960, 1968, The Age of the Mongols 1960
(twice), Geschichte der morgenlandischen Kirchen 1961, Innerasien
seit dem Aufkommen der Turken 1966, Les Mongols at ]'Europe
1961 (Spanish edn. 1966, English edn. 1971), Wiistenfeld-Mah-
lersche Vergleichungstabellen der muslimischen, iranischen and
orient-christlichen Zeitrechnung, Die islamische Welt (Saeculum
Weltgeschichte III-VII, 1967-75), Die orthodoxen Kirchen Nos.
1-82 1939-80, Geschichte der Mongolen nach ostlichen and euro-
paischen Zeugnissen 1968 (English edn. 1970), Die historische and
geographische Literatur in persischer Sprache 1968, Kulturges-
chichte des Islams (ostlicher Teil) 1971, Die Kunst der Islam (with
J. Sourdel-Thomine) 1973, Wirtschafts Geschichte Iran- and Mit-
telasiens im Mittelalter 1977, Krimgeschichte 1977, Gesammelte
Aufsatze 1980. Leisure interests: participation in church work,
hiking. Address: Mittelweg 90, 2 Hamburg 13; Rothenbaumchaus-
see 1936, 2 Hamburg 13, Federal Republic of Germany. Telephone:
4123-3182.
SPYROPOULOS, Jannis; Greek artist; b. 12 March 1912, Pylos,
Peloponnese; s. of Georges J. Spyropoulos and Phigalia G. J.
Spyropoulos; m. Zoe Margaritis 1954; ed. School of Fine Arts,
Athens, and E. ole des Beaux Arts, Paris; numerous one-man
exhbns. in Europe, U.S.A. and Australia 1950-; on touring exhbns.
of Greek Art, Rome 1953, Belgrade 1954, Malmo and Gothenburg
1959, Canada 1959, Cyprus 1960, Helsinki 1961; participated in
Alexandria Biennale 1955. Sao Paulo Bienal 1957, Venice Biennale
1.960, Carnegie Internationals 1961, 1964; Documenta III (Kassel)
1964, etc.; represented in Guggenheim Museum, New York.
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 Approved For Release 2007/03/27: CIA-RDP83M00 -
WASHINGION POST
2 2 APR 1973
ms
any
` e
By' John 11. Coshko
BERLIN - The view from Axel
Sprin?er's window is one that no
other big-time capitalist would deliber-
ately choose for his daily perspective
on the world. Yet it tells a lot about
why visitors to Springer's office
come away ? with the feeling that
"Citizen Kane" is alive and well and
living in West Berlin.
The interior has all the spacious lux-
ury-the handsome woods, the art
works bathed in soft lighting, the logs
blazing in a fireplace-that one ex-
pects from a man who began with lit-
tle more than a typewriter on an or-
ange crate and who wound up, owning
Germany's biggest newspaper chain.
But this executive suite ambience ends
with chilling abruptness at the win-
dow.
Outside, a scant few yards away,
stands the ugly, brick-arid-mortar scar
of the Berlin Wall, with its barbed
wire, its barren "death strip" and its
guard towers bristling with guns and
searchlights.
To Springer; and to those of his 12,-
000 employees who work in the West
Berlin command post of his publishing
empire, the wall is a constant exhorta-
tion to renewal of his long crusade
against the division of Germany. Every
glance out the window conveys a re-
minder that the "enemy"-the system
of Soviet-led communism-is dug in on
the other side.
When the wall went up. in 1961,
Springer's friends say he stood there,
trembling with rage, and vowed: "I'm
big enough to fight those new-style
storm troopers over there." To symbol-
ize the totality of his commitment, he
then built his 22-stury, $20 million
headquarters flush against the wall.
The Battle Willi Bra-mit
watch the balance sheet with the prac-
ticed eye of a' cost accountant. Yet
Springer, for all his renowned finan-
cial acumen, has never been a man to
put his purse ahead of his passions.
One of his fellow publishers offers
the wry comment that "Axel will
spend millions to keep the German
people from going into the red."
Springer himself says: "When my busi-
ness interests and the interests of Ger-
many come into conflict, then for me
the German interests are more impor-
tant than my own."
The unconsciously imperious tone
that Springer manages to inject in
such remarks explains why his ene-
mies delight in pointing out that his
middle name is Caesar. And, while he
doesn't normally use it himself, the
Caesar does fit neatly into the larger-
than-life image Springer projects on
the German stage.
On the eve of his 61st birthday, he
retains the trim good looks of a grace-
fully aging matinee' idol. In personal
contacts, he radiates the low-key but
spellbinding charm that women and
political foes find equally seductive.
But his most remarkable attribute, -as as.
any contact with him immediately
makes clear,.is an almost mystical be-
lief in the moral certitude of his own
ideas.
Because he will not be deflected
from his vision of what best serves
German interests, Springer dwells
amid constant controversy. Five years
ago, Germany's university students,
charging that his papers fostered a cli-
mate of intolerance -toward leftist
ideas, made him the target of sp ctacu-
lar riots that even included an attempt
to burn down his Berlin publishing
house. A gang of left-wing anarchists
PRINGE111 MAY NOT be able to'sell had better luck last spring when they
his newspapers in East Germany or succeeded in bombing his Hamburg
even send his reporters into the Coln- plant.
munist half of the country. But he still But all of Springer's earlier battles
has the satisfaction of knowing that now seem like tea parties compared
one can stand almost anywhere in Fast with his no-holds-barred fight against
Berlin and see looming over the will ' Chancellor W1'ill. Rrandt's pursuit of
the starkly functional building with the improved relations with Communist
STAY
ment in last November's national elec-
tions.
Even though Springer lost those
fights, he is still regarded by the
Brandt government as its most danger-
ous adversary. In fact, some factions of
Brandt's Social Democratic Party are.
advocating a "national press law" that
is ostensibly aimed at "democratizing"
the press but whose real purpose is to
restrict Springer's power. to dictate the
editorial policy of his papers.,
Obligation to the Jews
cVER SINCE HE declared war on
Brandt's Ostpolitik, Springer has
been branded a "right-winger" and
"revanchist" with such shrill frequency
that many foreigners, mindful of Ger-
many's recent history, have formed a
hazy but disquieting picture of a man
who must be some kind of neo-fascist.
However, anyone who looks into
Springer's record soon learns that he
cannot be classified so easily. As a
young man in Hitler's Germany, he
gave the.Nazis a wide berth; and to-
day, the radical right fringe of the
German political spectrum gets cuffed
around just as hard in the Springer
press as do Communists and student
"New Leftists."
In addition, no one 'in Germany is
more ardently outspoken than
Springer in championing the cause of
Israel and the "special obligation?" of
Germany toward the Jews. Indeed, Is-
rael is one of the few subjects capable
of bringing an emotional throb to his
voice.
"I can't say I didn't know what was
happening," Springer recalls. "In 1933,
I stood on the Kurfuerstendamm in-
Berlin and watched Nazi storm troop-
ers beating up old Jews. I was a young
man, and I couldn't do anything about
it. But I never forgot it.
"Now I think it is vitally important
that my sons and all young Germans
know what happened-that they are
taught about it in school and read
about it in the press and know why the
survival of Israel is so important for
Germany and the world."
As with all subjects about which
Springer feels deeply, he does more
than just talk about it. His critics have
never been shy about'pninting out that
he employs quite a few editors who
wol-cls ''Axel Springer" inscribed deli- Eastern Europe. Springer's newspapers
antly across its tower. threw everything they had into unsuc-
Stich flamboyance, and the price . cessful campaigns to frustrate Brandt's
of supporting it, is extremely rare goodwill treaties with the East bloc
in this day when most publishers and to defeat the chancellor's govern-
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continued.
 Approved For Re4etlll' t2(9(7 f27c1iti1 Ar-1 -? #0091A1RQfl2 QQO$&k~}7an sire includes
- It is a philosophy to which al o
faithfully served Dr. Goebbels in hyrn Springer's editorial employees are ex-.
ning the' praises of the Third Reich. pected to
What is less well known is that he also vation.
i bl b f Ger
d
subscribe without reser-
uces a siza a num ex o
has in
man-Jewish journalists, who were "Be trice to One Another"
forced to flee during the Nazi era, to HE ROAD SPRINGER has followed
come back and work for him. T in preaching this ethic began in 1945
In fact, it has been said with only 'when he found himself in Hamburg
slight exaggeration that half the execu- with the bombed-out remnants of a
rives in the Springer organization are printing business inherited from his
Jews who hold American citizenship.. family. Springer used it to start . a
As an American newsman sympathetic small weekly listing of radio programs
to Springer remarks, "That's rather called Hoer Zu (Listen). Eventually, it
odd for an outfit that's supposed to be -grew into the fat and glossy German
a hotbed of German revanchistn and' equivalent of TV Guide: with a current
nationalism."
Echoes of Luce
circulation of more than 3.7 million, it
remains the biggest money maker of
all Springer's publications. Hoer Zu
Boer Zu and a sheaf of specialty maga-
zines, the prestigious Ulistein book
publishing concern and assorted print-
ing and technical enterprises. But its
major importance derives front .Spring-
er s five daily and two Sunday newspa-
pers. The size of this stable may not
seem unduly large for a country with
almost 150 newspapers. Still, Springer
manages to put one of his papers in
the hands of almost 1 out of every 3
Germans who buys a daily paper.
In Germany's biggest cities, West Ber-
lin and llaniburg, the local Springer pa-
pers (Berliner Morgenpost, Berjiner
Zeitung, Hamburger Abendblatt) hold
such a lopsided share of their respective
markets that they come close to being
monopolies.:1nd. through his two chief
instruments of power and influence-the
mass-circulation Bild Zeitung and the
quality national daily Die Welt-Spring-
er reaches into every corner of West
Germany. What's more, both have sepa-
rate Sunday editions that art- the coun-
try's only national Sunday papers.
Bild Zeitung's present circulation of
3.7 million is down substantially from
its mid-1960s high of 4.5 million, but it
is still the biggest selling paper on the
continent. It is the classic Springer
creation, offering a diet of light-
hearted sex, juicy crime and detailed
sports coverage, leavened with horo-
scopes, consumer features and stories
about two-headed calves. All this is put
together in an eight-page package of
racy writing, gimmicky headlines and
eye-arresting color.
Die Welt, originally a postwar Brit-
ish occupation paper that Springer
took over in 1953, also has been having
circulation troubles. Present daily
sales are about 233,000 copies, down
from 280.000 a few years ago. Springer
himself colicedes"that it loses money,
saying: "I deliberately. built my'pub-
lishin,g house so that it is able to stand
on many legs. This 'enables us to put
out publications that are important but
that bring no profit." - -
He does this gladly because Die Welt
is one of the three national dailies of
serious news and commentary-to=?
gether with the Frankfurter Allge-
rneine Zeitung and the Munich-based
Sueddeutsche Zeitung-that compete
for the readership of Germany's politi-
cal, financial and professional estab--
lishments.
Although it is totally unlike any of
his other papers, Die \t-elt also hears
the distinctive Springer touch, and not
just in its hard sell of the boss' politi-
cal ideas. in a country that tends to
equate seriousness with dullness, Die
Welt stands out for its handsome
makeup, hiu h-quality writing and imag-
inative news display.
PERHAPS THERE IS only one- was. also the springboard from which
thing that 'can be said with any' he launched himself into daily journal-
certainty about `Springer: He is an ism.
authentic throwback to the age- of
the messianic (some might say,
"megalomaniac") press lords-those
men who combined a genius for coin-
ing money out of the printed word
with a missionary's zeal for remaking
the world in their own image.
But now, such men, have largely be-
come anachronisms. In America and
Britain, the Hearsts and Pulitzers, the
Northcliffes and Beaverbrooks all are
gone. Since the death of Henry Luce,
It could almost' be said that the breed
has become extinct in the English-
speaking world. But the debate that
rages here constantly about Springer
proves that the type is not gone com-
pletely. Indeed, an American listening
to Germans talk about Springer gets
the feeling that he is hearing 20-year-
old echoes from. Luce's heyday in
American publishing.
Like Luce, Springer is an authentic
Innovator who has profoundly influ-
enced the state of journalism in his
country. What's more, the charges lev-
eled against Springer-that his publi-
cations engage in slanting and out-
right distortion, that they are anti-in-
.tellectual, even that they have cor-
rupted the German' language-sound
remarkably like what used to he said
about Luce in the days when Time was
the publication that every good Ameri-
can liberal loved to hate.
Nor were Luce, the son of Protestant
missionaries, and Springer, who calls
his deeply religious mother "perhaps
the strongest influence on my life,"
followers of -divergent philosophies.
The way Time used to push Luce's
staunch belief in Christianity, free en-
terprise, anti-communism and the lic-
publican Party has an eerie echo today
in the "four principles" Springer has
laid clown for his publications. They
'are: (1) to stru?le for the reunifica-
tion of Germany; (2) reconciliation be-
tween Germans and Jews: (3) opposition
to any forth 'of totalitarianism, and (4)
His first newspaper was the Ham-
burger Abendblatt, and Springer talks
about his struggles in getting it started
with a zeal that betrays the instinctive
newspaperman still lurking beneath
the man of business ? and public af-
fairs. ? '
"There were six newspapers in Ham-
burg then, and the. competition was
fierce. But I knew we could make a
success if we offered a paper geared to
the underdog and the little man. We
tried to summarize what we were doing
by picking the motto 'Be -Nice to One
Another.' It was right after the war
when people were trying to forget and
start anew, and the motto put into
words what they were yearning for in-
stinctively."
Abendblatt became the laboratory in
which he perfected the techniques for
his climb to the top. These included
skillful use of the latest technological
advances and lavish resort to public
service gimmicks built.around the ?'Be
Nice to One Another" theme. To this
day, Abendhlatt's motto is illustrated
perfectly by the little buckets Banging
outside, its offices in suinnhertinie -
full of water for thirsty dons.
But Springer's biggest asset was
his uncanny feel for the public
pulse. "No minister can tell pie what
the people think," he has said., "I've
got a sixth sense, plus the letters to the
editor column." Repeatedly, his editors
and reporters are cxho.rted to re.mern-
ber the basic Springer formula: "Write
about people and for people -' and
keep it short."
Over the ensuing; two decades, he
used these techniques to branch out
and. build an einpi:?e whose value is
conservatively estimated in financial
circles at approximately S150 million.
It used to be even bigger, but four
years ago Springer, sensing the first
rumblings of legislation to clip his
wings, sold off four popular illustrated
magazines to reduce his holdings.
continued
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 Its roadability is a potent weapon in
the struggle against its two rivals. The
Frankfurters Allgenteine in particular
persists in hiding its comprehensive
coverage under a format reminiscent of
The New Fork Tinies around the time
of Lincoln's assassination. The Sued-
deutsche is much more sprightly, and
with its liberal outlook it offers a clear
alternative to Die Welt. But while it
has made inroads among former Welt
readers, it Is handicapped by having to
fight Die Welt's bigger staff and the
superior distribution that Springer
gets from printing at separate plants
in Hamburg, Berlin and the Ruhr.
Toning Down?
NQUESTIONABLY, Springer has
the resources to influence public
opinion, and despite his disclaimers, he
uses them. For Years, Bonn's cabinet
ministers began their day by cc robing
Die Welt for signs of whether Springer
was smiling or frowning on them.
Now, however, the declining circula-
tion of his two flagship papers-and
the rout of his campaigns against
Brandt-have raised questions about
whether he still retains his "sixth
sense" about the public's mood. In-
creasingly, publishing circles here
speculate about how much longer he
can afford to wage his stubborn battle
to be the political tutor to people who
aren't listening.
In this respect, Springer watchers
note that he has cased one of his per-
sonal favorites, Peter Bucnisch, out of
his long tenure as Bird's editor. Many
suspect that. the move was connected
to lloenisch's tendency to give too
much exposure to ultra-conservative
political .ideas. That had ? alienated
thousands of the blue-collar workers
who form the hard core of Bild reader-
ship but who also vote Social Demo-
crat. Since l,ornisc'h's departure, Bild
has quietly played down its political
coverage and moved back more toward
its old formula of folksy trivia.
Similarly, Springer recently patted
company with his most controversial
columnist, William' Schlamm. From his
pulpit in the Sunday Welt, Schlamm
had attacked Brandt's policies and ev-
ery other vestige of liberalism with
such unbridled savagery that someone
reading his column for the first time
might think he was an unreconstructed .
Nazi. Actually, William (originally
"Willi") Schlamm is a Jew and a for-
mer Austrian Communist who fled to
America in the 1930s and became a
U.S. citizen. There, he made a 180-de-
gree turn to the right,' spent several
years as an influential adviser. to Luce
at Time-Life and eventually returned
to Europe to join the Springer fold.
His column has now been assigned
More recently, Habe has trained his
fire on the "radical chic" leftism of
many German intellectuals (his favor-
ite target is the sometimes naive politi-
cal activism of Nobel Prize-winning,
novelist Heinrich Boell). But Hahe at
least employs a quieter and more
thoughtful tone than did the strident
Schlamm.
"I Haven't Chatsred"
T' 7 OWEVER, WHILE these changes
imply some trimming of the sails,
Springer literally bridles at the sug-
gestion that he would ever allow
profit-and-loss motives to mitigate his
hostility toward Brandt's Ostpolitik.
"If we believe we are on the right
road, we stay on it and we will not
change course no matter how much
money it costs me."
Seated in the living room of his vast,
antique-laden house in Wrest Berlin's
fashionable Grunewald district,
Springer explains why he opposes the
current movement toward detente and
reconciliation with the Communist
bloc:
"I hate every kind of totalitarianism.
What Germany did under Ifitler was
terrible, and we were destined to suf-
fer for it. The division of Germany was
our own fault-the result of our own
criminal action. Still, no-one can deny
that the results of that division have
produced a situation in which all Ger-
ntans are not treated equally.
"In one part of Germany, there is a
country where people are free to vote
for whom they please, to read the
newspapers and the books, to go to the
films and plays of their own choosing.
They have had the chance to- begin
anew; to rehabilitate themselves and to
again become part of the decent, civil-
ized world.
"But the people in the other part of
Germany were no more guilty than
those of us over here. They should not
have to go on bearing the full burden
of -the past when it has been spared to
those of us in West Germany. What
Axel Springer wants is that those poor
people on the other side of the wall
should have something like the same
kind of chance that we have had."
Slapping his chair for emphasis, he
add: "I do not have the right to sit
here on an elegant sofa in a comforta-
ble house and turn my back on those
who are in East Germany .sitting
amidst misfortune. I cannot agree to
any policy that says some Germans
will be free while others are written
off and forgotten. And, if that's nation-
alism, then I ani it nationalist."
Although Springer makes no apolo-
gies for this attitude, he clearly re-
sents the "right \vii g" label it has
earned for him. "There was a time
to another of the "house Americans," when many who now attack: Inc. said
Hans Ilabe, author of several very re- exactly the same things that I am say-
ways ocen Clear ailu bU416ll;.. %,ai. -1J
say the same?". -
WW here Is the Center?
-'SIT\ST J. CRAMER, yet another
V 41
ji-i American citizen who heads up
Springer's personal palace guard, puts
it another way. When The Washington
Post recently carried an article refer-
ring to "the right-wing Axel Springer
group," Cramer protested that this was
"as wrong and misleading as is the la-
bel 'left-wino' for The Washington
Post."
His complaint was not without justi-
fication, since Springer is certainly not
a right-\\inger in the conventional
sense. He thinks of himself as a man
of the center, and there is no doubt
that he is sincere in this belief.
However, Springer's view of the
"center" was forged when the Cold
War was at its most frigid. That was a
time when many others-among them
Willy Brandt, who was then mayor of
West Berlin-stood on much the same
ground. By now, though, Brandt and
the - others have responded to what
they perceive as changing times, and
they have moved in directions that
Springer adamantly refuses to follow.
Brandt contends -that his policies of
detente and a mild pragmatic social.
Ism represent "the new German politi.
cal center." To Springer, such ideas,
however well-intentioned, are a deser-
tion of "the true center" and could de-
liver West Germany into the hands of
those who want to supplant democracy
with neutralism and radical Marxism.
As Cramer remarks, "Axel Springer
sees extremism of the left posing the
same dangers to contemporary Ger-
man democracy -as did extremism of
the right in the 1930s. He sees Brandt
and the government dealing with the
Communists on the theory that they
can 'handle' the Russians and East
Germans, and he remembers how the
politicians of the Weimar Republic be-
lieved they could 'handle' Hitler."
The Moscow Trip
SPRINGER HAS FELT this way
ever since a 1958 trip to Moscow to
talk with then-Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev about the chances for Ger-
man reunification. Khrushchev, who
apparently didn't think Springer very
important, let hint cool his heels for lf,'
days before giving hint a brief, brush_
off interview. Springer came hone
convinced that Germany could never
do business with Use Soviets except on
terms that would suck it into the Com-
munist orbit.
It's a point of view for which persua.
sive arguments can he made, and
Springer certainly has made them.
What an ;ers his critics is their conten-
continued
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Lion tln'. this is the only view of West ton, It all passed without notice. But
Germany's policye options, that he will the maneuver supplied Barth with cop-
allow into his publications. ious ammunition for a barrat c of arti-
Springer dismisses this charge of Iles about "fear" of the treaties in
news slanting as "nonsense" and Congress.
insists' "It is our absolute policy to see Going Barth one better was a Wash-
that the readers are fully informed ington correspondent for the Sunday
about all sides of an issue. If they Welt who filed a front-pa