- Reimar Oltmanns
Reimar Oltmanns (born in
Schöningen ,Germany in 1949) is ajournalist and author.From 1970 to 1972 he was the spokesman for
Peter von Oertzen , Minister of Culture for theLower Saxony region.Until 1970, Reimar Oltmanns was involved in various capacities with the Lower Saxony Young Democrats; afterwards he became President of this youth organisation, closely linked at this time to the FDP. He was a delegate to the regional and national congresses of the FDP and sat on the regional committee, without voting rights. The regional committee of the FDP party, with right wing politicians as well as deported German nationals were in dispute with the young democrats who they considered too close to the left wing opposition. Together with twenty leaders of the Young Democrats, Oltmanns rejoined the SPD.
He learned his journalistic profession with the newspapers “
Cuxhavener Zeitung ” and “Hannoversche Presse ”. At the start of the 1970s he wrote fromHanover for the “Frankfurter Rundschau ” and later fromBonn for “Stern”. At the same time he also wrote for "Stern" on German politics, and as chief editor on "Special Themes".In july 1977, Reimar Oltmanns (text) et John Kubicek (illustration) won first prize in a national competition under the theme of "30 years of Human Rights. Their entry, "So the burning of the Reichstag will never happen again" showed a wall of flames devouring the books of fundamental law.
25 years later, "Stern" magazine chose articles written by Reimar Oltmanns for their special editions dedicated to "The best reporting of 1977". The series of articles were written from Latin America on the subjects of torture, assassinations and concentration camps.
In March 1979, Reimar, together with Peter Koch, received the Egon-Erwin-Kisch Prize 1978, awarded by the established youth magazines "Elan" and “die roten Blätter” and supported by the German Democratic Republic. The prize was awarded for their articles on freedom published in “Stern”. This seriesof articles crticised the systematic development of electronic monitoring by the State, the exclusion and professional disqualification of those who deviated from the dominant thought.
In 1979, Reimar Oltmanns left the Hamburg-based magazine and became a freelance journalist and writer, reporting for “Spiegel” as well as “Der Zeit”.
In 1981,Reimar testified at the Hamburg High Court in the “trial of press coverage" (“Titelblattprozess”) during which the feminist Alice Schwarzer accused the editor of the “Stern”, Henri Nannen, of censorship and of representing women like simple sex objects. Reimar Oltmanns testified in favor of Alice Schwarzer, editor of “Emma”, from his inside knowledge of “Stern”.
After having gone to live in Frankfurt-on-Main, he continued to write for newspapers and magazines and published several books. He was in the years 1984/85, the editor of the magazine “Auftritt” in the Rhine-Hand area. In 1990, he moved Bologna and since 1992 has lived in France.
He also reported from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, particularly in Italy and France, he wrote documentary articles about society and about travel.
Oltmanns is married to a French national and lives near Lyon.
Books:
"Die Würde des Menschen – Folter in unserer Zeit", with Peter Koch,Verlag Gruner + Jahr AG & Co, Hamburg 1977,ISBN 3-570-00061-3
"SOS – Sicherheit – Ordnung Staatsgewalt – Freiheit in Deutschland", with Peter Koch, Verlag Gruner + Jahr AG & Co, Hamburg 1978, ISBN 3-570-01909-8
"Du hast keine Chance, aber nutze sie – Eine Jugend steigt aus", Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1980, ISBN 3 498 05006 0
"Am Strand von Tunix" dans "Erkundungen in einem unbekannten Land - Sozialreportagen von 1945 bis heute" Friedrich G. Kürbisch (Hrsg.) Verlag J.H.W. Dietz Nachf..Berlin, Bonn 1981, ISBN 3-8012-0060-4
"Deutschland von übermorgen" dans "Aussteigen oder rebellieren - Jugendliche gegen Staat und Gesellschaft" Michael Haller (Hrsg.) Spiegel-Verlag, Hamburg 1981, ISBN 3 499 33014 8
"Heimatkunde – Soldaten, Arbeitslose, Verrückte und andere Mitmenschen - Deutsche Reportagen" Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-8218-1103-X
"Engagiert und ernsthaft, spielerisch und experimentell. Die Wirtschaft der alternativen Szene" in "Wirtschaft im Untergrund" Stephan Burgdorff (Hrsg.) Spiegel-Verlag, Hamburg 1983, ISBN 2-499-33035 0
"Der Intrigant oder die Machtgier der christlichen Regenten - Vom Hofe der Bonner Operetten-Republik" Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-8218-1121-8 (a critique of Ulrich Karger)
"Möllemänner - oder die opportunistischen Liberalen" Eichborn Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-8218-1122-6
"Keine normale Figur in der Hütte – Reportagen zur Wendezeit" Athenäum Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1989, ISBN 3-610-08538-X
"Frauen an die Macht – Protokolle einer Aufbruchsära" Athenäums programm by anton hain, Frankfurt am Main 1990, ISBN 3-445-08551-X
"Vive la Francaise – Die stille Revolution der Frauen in Frankreich" Rasch und Röhring Verlag, Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-89136-523-3
Web: *http://www.reimaroltmanns.eu/ Blog: http://www.reimaroltmanns.com
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