Kurt Becker

Kurt Becker   (editor)
Born	31 March 1920 Hamburg, Germany
Died	10 May 1987 (Age 67) Hamburg, Germany
Nationality	German
Member of	Atlantik-Brücke
German editor-in-chief and government spokesman. Attended Bilderberg/1967 and Bilderberg/1975. Member of Atlantik-Brücke.  Government spokesman In office 1980 - 1982 Employer Helmut Schmidt Appointed by Helmut Schmidt Attended Bilderberg/1967 and Bilderberg/1975  Political editor In office 1975 - 1980 Employer Die Zeit Attended Bilderberg/1967 and Bilderberg/1975  Editor  In office 1966 - 1971 Employer Die Zeit Preceded by İsmail Cem, William Haley Attended Bilderberg/1967 and Bilderberg/1975  Journalist  In office 1947 - 1966 Employer Die Welt

Kurt Becker was a German editor and government spokesman. He was a member of the Atlantik-Brücke. He attended the 1967 Bilderberg meeting and 1975 Bilderberg meeting as editor for Die Zeit. In 1980, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt brought him to Bonn as government spokesman, despite him not being a SPD party member.

Background

Kurt Becker attended school until middle school and then began an apprenticeship as an export merchant, but because of the Second World War he no longer could work in this profession. He took part in the war, ending it as first lieutenant. In 1945 he returned to Hamburg after a hospital stay in Zwickau and initially thought of supplementing his earlier education with language studies.

Career

An offer from the then British occupation government's newspaper Die Welt led him by chance to journalism. He started there in 1946 as an interpreter and soon moved to the domestic news department. In 1953, the newspaper passed from British hands to the publishing house Axel Springer. Until 1965, Becker was still shaping Welt's domestic political reporting and was "a role model for an entire journalistic generation," according to W. Wiedemeyer.

In 1966, Becker joined the editorial staff of the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, also working in Hamburg. From 1971 to 1975, as editor-in-chief, he determined the line of the Kölner Stadtanzeiger. In the autumn of 1975 he returned to Zeit and became deputy editor-in-chief and head of the political department there.

On December 15, 1980, Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt brought him to Bonn as government spokesman and head of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, despite not being a party member His statements repeatedly provoked resentment in the ruling party SPD, so that he was finally found unsustainable and replaced by his predecessor Klaus Bölling on April 28, 1982.

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
Bilderberg/1967	31 March 1967	2 April 1967	United Kingdom St John's College (Cambridge) UK	Possibly the only Bilderberg meeting held in a university college rather than a hotel (St. John's College, Cambridge)
Bilderberg/1975	25 April 1975	27 April 1975	Turkey Golden Dolphin Hotel Cesme	The 24th Bilderberg Meeting, 98 guests

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.