Gone but not forgotten - Erich Kuby

Erich Kuby was born in Baden-Baden on June 28, 1910 and died in Venice, Italy on September 10, 2005.

The journalist and writer died this year at the age of 95. Many people considered him to be the last great figure of German journalism after the Second World War.
Kuby's journalistic career had begun in 1947 when he was assigned to editor in chief of the magazine "Der Ruf" of the American occupation authority. From "Der Ruf" he changed jobs to "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and "Welt" and finally came to the great news magazines "Spiegel" and "Stern". He had great success with book and screenplay about the case of the murdered prostitute Rosemarie Nitribitt at the end of the fifties. In his sharp and strict criticism of social developments he didn't recoil from quarrels with his editors, which led to his dismissal at "Spiegel" and "Stern".
In doubt he evaluated his personal indenpendece higher than a career in his job. His social criticism earned him the name Nestbeschmutzer (someone who fouls his own nest) high in rank by Heinrich Böll. The journalist Friedrich Sieburg named him a federal non-conformist.

In the years before his death he lived in Venice with his wife Susanna and his son Daniel. He accompanied the political development until the end.
Posthumously he was awarded the noted Tucholsky award.