60 years of mirrors
About 2,000 guests, including more than 1,000 publishing house employees, will raise a toast on Monday, January 8, in Hamburg to mark the 60th anniversary of the news magazine *Spiegel*. In doing so, they will also be celebrating 60 years of investigative journalism in Germany.
Around 2,000 guests, including more than 1,000 publishing house employees, will toast the 60th anniversary of the news magazine Spiegel in Hamburg on Monday, January 8. They are also celebrating 60 years of investigative journalism in Germany. The first Spiegel was published on January 4, 1947.
With the birth of the news magazine, investigative investigative journalism was also established in Germany. Under the aegis of legendary founder and editor Rudolf Augstein (1923 - 2002), the editorial team uncovered numerous scandals in Germany's post-war history. Augstein's motto was "clearing up without regard for losses".
Just ten years after its launch, the magazine made press history: with a report on NATO's inadequate defense concept, the editors angered Chancellor Adenauer, who accused Der Spiegel of treason. In the course of the affair, editor-in-chief Augstein spent three months in custody, but had to be released due to a lack of evidence. The case was dropped and the then Minister of Defense, Franz Josef Strauss, was forced to resign under pressure from the outraged public. Der Spiegel became the "assault gun of democracy", as Augstein put it. In the 1980s in particular, the magazine made headlines by uncovering numerous political scandals. These included the Flick party donation scandal and the Barschel-Pfeiffer affair.
Stefan Aust has been editor-in-chief of the magazine since 1994. Spiegel has an average circulation of over one million copies per issue.
With the birth of the news magazine, investigative investigative journalism was also established in Germany. Under the aegis of legendary founder and editor Rudolf Augstein (1923 - 2002), the editorial team uncovered numerous scandals in Germany's post-war history. Augstein's motto was "clearing up without regard for losses".
Just ten years after its launch, the magazine made press history: with a report on NATO's inadequate defense concept, the editors angered Chancellor Adenauer, who accused Der Spiegel of treason. In the course of the affair, editor-in-chief Augstein spent three months in custody, but had to be released due to a lack of evidence. The case was dropped and the then Minister of Defense, Franz Josef Strauss, was forced to resign under pressure from the outraged public. Der Spiegel became the "assault gun of democracy", as Augstein put it. In the 1980s in particular, the magazine made headlines by uncovering numerous political scandals. These included the Flick party donation scandal and the Barschel-Pfeiffer affair.
Stefan Aust has been editor-in-chief of the magazine since 1994. Spiegel has an average circulation of over one million copies per issue.
