Burned Bridges. The Rise and Fall of the Former BBC Journalist Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler in East Germany

Author: Rebien Kristin  

Publisher: Rodopi

ISSN: 1388-3720

Source: The Yearbook of the Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, Vol.5, Iss.1, 2002-12, pp. : 159-176

Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.

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Abstract

Schnitzler's journalistic career was closely intertwined with larger political developments. Its vicissitudes indicate major shifts in the role of politics in broadcasting. Declared anti-Nazism enabled Schnitzler to receive journalistic training at the BBC German Service during World War II. It also allowed him to rise to a central position in British-controlled post-war radio in Germany. Declared Communism caused him to lose this position at the onset of the Cold War. Schnitzler's relocation to the East was part of a larger regional concentration of political elites. Parallel to the pressure curve of the Cold War, his career went through a second complete cycle of success and subsequent failure.