Henri Nannen

Henri Nannen (1987)

Henri Nannen(25 December 1913 inEmden– 13 October 1996 inHanover) was a German journalist and art collector. He became one of the most prominent journalists and magazine publishers in Germany.

His father was a police officer inEmdenwho was removed from his post by the NSDAP. After a one-year book dealer apprenticeship he studied the history of art at the University of Munich. In the 1930s he started working as a journalist. During the war he served inSS-Standarte Kurt Eggers,a propaganda unit in Italy. Being large, well-built and fair haired, he corresponded to the racial ideals of the time in Germany. This made him the speaker of theOlympic Oathduring the1936 event in Berlin– forRiefenstahl's film,but not in reality.Many years after the war, he confessed that "I knew what was happening... but I was too cowardly to do something against it."He got back to journalism while working for theHannoverschen Neusten Nachrichten,the daily newspaperAbendpostand the youth newspaperZickzack.

He was the founder ofGruner + Jahrpublishing house and the news magazineDer Stern.He led the magazine from 1948 to 1980 to become one of the strongest in Europe.Gruner + Jahris the largest publisher in Europe as of 2014.

Nannen gained popularity as an art collector and benefactor of theKunsthalleinEmden,an art museum, that he built in 1983. The annualHenri Nannen Prizesare awarded in his honor by Gruner + Jahr. TheHenri-Nannen-Schule(formerlyHamburger Journalistenschule), is the journalist school of Gruner + Jahr and is considered one of the best schools of journalism in Germany, along with theGerman School of Journalism(Deutsche Journalistenschule) in Munich.

He was married to Eske Nannen (born 1942), a former actress. Henri Nannen has a son Christian Nannen (born 1946),co-owner of Hamburg suitcase-producer Travelite.

External links

• Henri NannenatIMDb