How the Berliner Zeitung was sold to capitalists: The Night of Capital
"Berlin is reviving!" That was the headline of the Berliner Zeitung on May 21, 1945. It was the first edition of the Berliner Zeitung to be published between the destruction and the awakening in East Berlin. Now the Berliner Zeitung is celebrating its 80th birthday. To mark the occasion, there will be exclusive reports in the coming days, and on May 24, a special edition of the Berliner Zeitung dedicated to the awakening will be published. Here you can read an article by Gregor Gysi, who wrote for the Berliner Zeitung about a special night.
More than 90 percent of the media in the GDR belonged to the SED ( Socialist Unity Party of Germany), and the process of revitalizing the PDS involved abandoning these media outlets. The only exception was the daily newspaper Neues Deutschland. Where a sale was made, the proceeds went to the Treuhandanstalt (Treuhand Agency) – first to the GDR, then to the FRG.
Nevertheless, we also had political intentions. I was invited to a very lavish dinner simply because Springer-Verlag wanted to acquire the Berliner Zeitung. Right at the beginning of the meal, I explained that they could save the money because such a sale was completely out of the question for me. It didn't actually happen, but I got the meal anyway.
A good solution seemed to have been found when Robert Maxwell from Great Britain and the publishing house Gruner+Jahr jointly wanted to acquire the Berliner Zeitung. And so it happened, although today the Berliner Zeitung—what a surprise—exists almost without an owner (referring to the situation in 2005; editor's note) . I had nothing to do with the actual sales negotiations, although I did have one conversation with Gerd Schulte-Hillen and another with Maxwell in London.
Eventually, the contract was signed, but the buyers weren't satisfied for very long. They had to invest more than they had anticipated and, in retrospect, felt the purchase price was too high. With the approval of the Treuhandanstalt (Treuhand Agency), a renegotiation was scheduled, specifically in one of the most expensive hotels in Berlin, or rather, East Berlin (on the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Unter den Linden).
This negotiation cost me a whole night, and for the first time I had the impression that my driver wanted to fire me, but fortunately he changed his mind.
Both Gerd Schulte-Hillen and Robert Maxwell were present, as were lawyers, of course, a rather pleasant man from the Treuhandanstalt (trustee agency), and myself. However, I found myself in a strange situation: I was supposed to negotiate like an owner, but I had no particular interest in the purchase price, because even in the event of a reduction, the money would have to be repaid by the Treuhandanstalt, which had received it. Therefore, of course, I could only agree to a reduction that the Treuhandanstalt also agreed to. In any case, I felt I could be generous here if I achieved something different.
Purchase price versus jobsI spoke with the chairman of the Berliner Zeitung works council by phone, and we agreed on a severance payment that we wanted to achieve for each dismissal within a certain period of time. Furthermore, the number of dismissals should be kept as low as possible anyway. So, for the others, it was the purchase price that mattered, while for me, it was something else.
At the beginning of the conversation, a lawyer for Schulte-Hillen pointed out that it was not yet certain whether the party I represented actually owned the Berliner Zeitung. I explained that this was a good thing, because then I could leave immediately. If the party was not the owner, I would have no say in the purchase price. I stood up and wanted to say a friendly goodbye. Schulte-Hillen whispered something into his lawyer's ear, and the subject was never brought up again, just as the lawyer said nothing else during the rest of the conversation.
The talks dragged on for a long time, but eventually we agreed on a new purchase price and the amount of severance pay for layoffs within a certain period. The latter was also agreed upon over the phone by the works council chairman. Schulte-Hillen said that, to his knowledge, this was the highest severance pay that had ever been agreed upon. However, what other interest could I have in the negotiations, and the necessary approval from the Treuhandanstalt (trustee agency) had already been obtained.
There may have been many more details, and the development later took its own course, including a waning interest from the newly acquired owners. But that's all my part looked like; I can't describe any more.
I find it remarkable that the Berliner Zeitung is returning to normality in that, in contrast to its 50th anniversary, it is now beginning to deal with its history again on the 60th anniversary of its founding (the 80th will be celebrated in 2025; editor's note) .
History should not be falsified, but it must be accepted.
Transparency note: This text first appeared in the special edition of the Berliner Zeitung on May 20, 2005, marking the 60th anniversary. Gregor Gysi agreed to the reprint of the unaltered version.
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