Editing Guido Knopp (section)

== Life and work ==
After earning his doctoral degree in [[history]] and [[political science]], Knopp worked as a newspaper editor at the [[Welt am Sonntag]] and the [[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]]. In 1978 he took up employment at the German TV station [[ZDF]]. Since then, he has produced many documentaries about the Nazi dictatorship like ''Hitlers Helfer'' ("Hitler's Henchmen"), ''Hitler-Eine Bilanz'' ("Hitler-taking stock") or ''Die SS: Eine Warnung der Geschichte'' ("The SS: A warning from history"), but also, for example, ''Vatikan'' (about the power of the popes) or ''Kanzler: Die Mächtigen der Republik'' (about Germany's post-war federal chancellors).<ref>[http://www.mdr.de/riverboat/738077.html MDR TV] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630175121/http://www.mdr.de/riverboat/738077.html |date=30 June 2007}} "Knopp, Guido: Porträt" (Knopp, Guido: A Portrait), 2003.  </ref> Knopp hosts a weekly German television program, usually broadcast on Sundays, called ''History''. In 1999, he produced a series called ''100 Jahre – der Countdown'', which sums up the whole 20th century, year by year, and is still sometimes broadcast during holidays by the [[Phoenix (German TV station)|Phoenix television station]].<ref>[http://www.phoenix.de/100_jahre_der_countdown/12742.htm Phoenix TV, 100 Jahre – der Countdown] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125035710/http://www.phoenix.de/100_jahre_der_countdown/12742.htm |date=25 January 2008}}</ref> For the publication of his book ''Top Spies – Traitors in the Secret War'' (1994), Knopp worked with the German [[Bundesnachrichtendienst|Federal Intelligence Service]] and several retired spies to present their personal story and explain their work to a broad public.<ref>[https://www.amazon.de/dp/3442127254 "Top Spione. Verräter im geheimen Krieg"], amazon.de; {{ISBN|3-442-12725-4}}</ref>

Knopp's history films are often criticised for presenting the [[Third Reich]] too superficially and for "editing history" to play down the role of the German public in building and supporting [[Hitler]]'s regime.<ref>[http://www.tagesspiegel.de/magazin/wissen/gesundheit/;art300,2214451 Der Tagesspiegel], tagesspiegel.de. 25 September 2006.</ref><ref>[http://www.zeit.de/2004/10/Steam_Punk Die Zeit], zeit.de. October 2004. Accessed 5 May 2022. </ref> He was condemned for rewriting history by leaving out the role of the [[Wehrmacht]] (former German Army) in the cruelties of [[World War II]].<ref>"Alle waren Opfer" ("Everyone was a victim"). No. 48/2006, ''[[Die Zeit]]'', 23 November 2006.</ref><ref>"Unter Wölfen" ("Amongst Wolves"). ''[[Der Spiegel|Spiegel]] Magazine'', 28 November 2006.</ref> In 2004, a group of international historians warned that documentaries like the ones produced by Knopp could reduce important historic facts to mere [[infotainment]].<ref>[http://www.whoswho.de/templ/te_bio.php?PID=1780&RID=1 German Who is Who]</ref> 

In 2003, Knopp pleaded for [[Konrad Adenauer]] to be featured in the ''[[Unsere Besten]]'' list of greatest Germans, compiled by ZDF-TV.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120908095327/http://www.kas.de/proj/home/pub/94/1/year-2008/dokument_id-11578/index.html "Die Botschaft von Hambach – Verpflichtung für heute!", speech of Guido Knopp.], quote: "Das ZDF, mein Sender, hat im Herbst des Jahres 2003 nach dem besten Deutschen der Geschichte gefragt. Ich habe für Konrad Adenauer gekämpft, weil er den geschlagenen demoralisierten Deutschen nach dem Krieg ein neues Selbstbewusstsein gegeben hat." ("The ZDF, my station, was asking in autumn 2003 for the best German in History. I fought for Konrad Adenauer, because he gave the defeated demoralized Germans new self-consciousness after the war.")</ref> In 2004, he received the [[Goldene Kamera]] and the [[Bavaria]]n and European TV award for his work. He teaches [[journalism]] at the Gustav-Siewerth-Akademie in Weilheim-Bierbronnen ([[Baden-Württemberg]]) and lives in [[Mainz]]. His publishing house is the German [[Random House]] group ([[Bertelsmann]] group).<ref>[http://www.randomhouse.de/author_new/author.jsp?per=3576 Short biography], randomhouse.de. Accessed 5 May 2022. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215200319/http://www.randomhouse.de/author_new/author.jsp?per=3576 |date=15 February 2008}}</ref> In 2008 Knopp worked on a movie about failed Hitler assassin [[Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg]].<ref>[http://www.jungewelt.de/2008/01-21/048.php Marktschreier des Tages: Tom Cruise/Guido Knopp (Pitchman of the Day: Tom Cruise/Guido Knopp)], JungeWelt.de. 21 January 2008.</ref>