Power of the pen

Marion Graefin Doenhoff (December 2, 1909 - March 11, 2002) was a German journalist who participated in the resistance against Hitler's National Socialists. After the war, she became one of West Germany's leading journalists and intellectuals. Passionate about politics, she rose in the ranks of her profession to become editor-in-chief and publisher of the respected weekly newspaper Die Zeit.

Helmut Schmidt was West Germany's chancellor from 1974 to 1982 and Marion Doenhoff's long-time acquaintance. From 1983, he co-published Die Zeit together with her.

Deutsche Welle: Mr Schmidt, can you still remember your first meeting with Marion Graefin Doenhoff?

Helmut Schmidt: It was more than half a century ago, here in Hamburg. I knew her from her articles in Die Zeit. I was a regular reader. One day she wrote a piece in which she defended Herbert Wehner - a former German communist who had become a social democrat - against vicious accusations. In response, I wrote her a letter to thank her for this article. One or two years later we met on a plane by coincidence. That must have been 1958 or 1959 and that's how long we've known each other.

What impressed you about her personality?

The clarity of her liberality and the clarity of her thoughts. From my perspective, Marion Doenhoff's life consisted of two very different parts. The first part was her youth, till she was about 30, in East Prussia - the child of a noble landowner, part of high society, partly related to Polish aristocracy and also known as one of the people who tried to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944. Some of her friends lost their lives in that event, but she survived.

The second half of her life began in West Germany, where she became a journalist. It was a very different life from before - not poor, but also not wealthy anymore. She had very stringent morals. She was very tolerant, but not towards intolerance and immorality. Apart from that, she was a good newspaper writer.

She worked for almost 60 years for Die Zeit, first as a journalist, then as the editor-in-chief, and finally as a publisher. Die Zeit was "her home, her family," as she said herself. How did she influence the weekly publication?

Compared to other editors, she was an influential personality - not only in her writing, but also in everyday conversation. She was an authority - she would have been the authority, if it hadn't been for the publisher and the owners.

She wrote what she thought. When at one point Die Zeit seemed to be veering off is course, she went to England. Later she came back. Die Zeit was her newspaper. After that she didn't change anything anymore.

Much later, when she was publisher instead of editor, she didn't always agree with what was written in the paper. She would then write her own article the following week. Her authority was unbroken until her death. During the last 18, 19 years we talked almost every day. When she had a question, she came to me. When I had a question, I went to her. We understood each other well. She was nine year older than me and had a good deal more life experience. I was just a former politician who had to learn how to make a newspaper.

She once said that a political career wouldn't interest her because as a journalist she could be more influential. Do you think she aimed to be politically influential?

Through her journalism, she had a lot of influence in Germany - for example, in West Germany's policies toward Poland, Russia and East Germany. She was one of the pathfinders, of the 1960s. If she had ever accepted the offer to run for president, she would have certainly had a big impact. She was an effective person.

In her articles, Marion Doenhoff often called for reconciliation with eastern Europe - even though she fled from the Russians in 1945 and had to leave her beloved homeland, East Prussia. How do you assess Doenhoff's influence in her campaign for an agreement with the East?

I can't assess the long-term effects, but her strongest influence was probably not in Poland, but on Germany's policies regarding Poland. There was Marion Doenhoff and there were communities in the Protestant Church and in the Catholic Church. In 1969, Willy Brandt became West Germany's chancellor and people knew that what had been written before by these communities and by Marion Doenhoff would be the government's policy. That's how the three treaties with Russia, Poland and East Germany came about.

How big was her influence on German politics?

That can't be measured. But I, for example, always read her writings, whether I was defense minister or finance minister or the head-of-state.

And did she influence your political decisions?

We mostly agreed on things.

She studied, earned a PhD, and was a successful journalist and publicist. How, as woman, did she manage to assert herself at a time when Germany was still a male-dominated world?

I think - or I believe it is possible - that the man she loved died in the war and this made her want to stand on her own feet.

What will Marion Graefin Doenhoff be remembered for?

Journalists rarely leave tracks. That's because their writing is on a daily or weekly basis. When they also write books, though, they have a more lasting impact. Marion Doenhoff wrote several books that will remain in existence. One of them describes her adventurous journey from East Prussia to West Germany. Journalists are rarely remembered, but maybe she will be one of the few who are not forgotten.

Interview: Justyna Bronska (ew)

Editor: Kate Bowen