Editing Axel Springer (section)

{{Short description|German publisher (1912–1985)}}
{{For|the publishing house|Axel Springer SE}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name           = Axel Springer
| image          = Axel Springer 1966.jpg
| caption        = Springer in 1966
| birth_name     = Axel Cäsar Springer
| birth_date     = {{Birth date|1912|05|02|df=y}}
| birth_place    = [[Altona, Hamburg]], [[German Empire]]
| death_date     = {{death date and age|1985|09|22|1912|05|02|df=y }}
| death_place    = [[West Berlin]], [[West Germany]]
| occupation     = Business, publishing
| spouse         = Martha Else Meyer (1933–1938, divorced)<br />Erna Frieda Berta Holm (1939–?, divorced)<br />[[Rosemarie Springer|Rosemarie Alsen]] (née [[Werner Lorenz|Lorenz]]) (1953–1961, divorced)<br />Helga Alsen (née Ludewig) (1962–?, divorced)<br />[[Friede Springer]] (1978–1985)
| children       = 3
| relations      = [[Werner Lorenz]] (father-in-law)
| signature      =
}}
'''Axel Cäsar Springer''' (2 May 1912 – 22 September 1985) was a German publisher and founder of what is now [[Axel Springer SE]], the largest media publishing firm in Europe. By the early 1960s his print titles dominated the [[West Germany|West German]] daily press market. His ''[[Bild Zeitung]]'' became the nation's tabloid.

In the late 1960s, Springer entered into confrontation with the emergent [[New Left]]. Hostile coverage of student protests and a continuing rightward drift in editorial comment were met with boycotts and printing-press blockades, and later in 1972 with the bombing of the company offices by the [[Red Army Faction]] (the "Baader Meinhof Gang").

In the late 1970s, exposés of journalistic malpractice by the investigative reporter [[Günter Wallraff]] led to Press Council reprimands. Sometimes referred to as Germany's [[Rupert Murdoch]],<ref name="local.de">{{cite news |title=Germany's Rupert Murdoch turns 100 |url=https://www.thelocal.de/20120502/42291 |work=The Local de |date=2 May 2012 |access-date=14 February 2021 |archive-date=7 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207034716/https://www.thelocal.de/20120502/42291/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kirchick 1">{{cite news |last1=Kirchick |first1=James |title=The German Murdoch |url=https://jameskirchick.com/2013/05/08/the-german-murdoch/ |access-date=14 February 2021 |work=Tablet |issue=8 May 2013 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925042228/https://jameskirchick.com/2013/05/08/the-german-murdoch/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Springer, with counter suits and minor divestments, was able to ride out public criticism of his editorial ethics and market dominance.

Springer engaged in private diplomacy in Moscow in 1958 and, with greater recognition, in Jerusalem in 1966 and 1967. In addition to promotion and defence of the values of the "Western family of nations" and [[NATO]], Springer declared "reconciliation of Jews and Germans and support for the vital rights of the [[Israel|State of Israel]]" to be a ''leitmotif'' of his company's journalism.<ref>[http://www.axelspringer.de/englisch/umwelt/inhalte/leitbild/leitlinien/leitlinien.htm Corporate Principles, Values and Guidelines of Axel Springer AG] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235227/http://www.axelspringer.de/englisch/umwelt/inhalte/leitbild/leitlinien/leitlinien.htm |date=27 September 2007 }}</ref>