Mario Frank (born 31 May 1958) qualified in Germany as a lawyer. He holds a West German doctorate, obtained for a piece of work on the East German Ministry of Justice. He has pursued a managerial career in the media sector. For a year during 2007/2008 he was chief executive of the Spiegel publishing group.[1] In recent decades he has emerged as an important political biographer.[2][3]
Life
editMario Frank was born in Rostock, a major port city on the north coast of what was at that time the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). He spent most of his childhood in Switzerland, but by the time he was due to undertake his military service he did so in West Germany, at Landshut. It was also in Bavaria that he commenced his university study of jurisprudence, at University of Regensburg, but by the time he completed his degree he had moved again, this time to Freiburg im Breisgau, which is also where he passed his level I national law exams. After that he took a position as a referendary (loosely: "legal trainee") at the Berlin high court ("Kammergericht"), and then at the German-South African chamber of commerce in Johannesburg. He passed his level II national law exams in Berlin in 1987. In 1988 he received from the University of Regensburg[4] his doctorate of laws in exchange for a dissertation on developments at the East German Ministry of Justice[5]
In 1987 Frank embarked on a professional career in the media sector, employed as an assistant to Mark Wössner, who at that time was the chairman of Bertelsmann. In 1989 he sought to broaden his experience with a move to the Gruner Jahr publishing conglomerate, initially as operations director at the Hamburger Morgenpost (newspaper) and subsequently as publishing and managing director at the company's "Boulevard newspapers" division in Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin. In 1994 he was appointed chief executive ("Geschäftsführer") at the "Dresdner Druck- und Verlagshaus GmbH & Co. KG" (printing and publishing business) which included in its portfolio the "Sächsische Zeitung" and the region's version of the "Morgenpost" (newspaper).[6]
At the start of 2007 he was appointed sole chief executive of the Spiegel publishing group.[1] His responsibilities encompassed not just the magazine but also its television company and its web presence. His time at Spiegel was characterised by a certain amount of conflict, however, and during the summer of 2008 he left.[7] His agreed resignation was formalised with effect from 15 September 2008.[8] Since 2011 Frank has worked as a self-employed lawyer in Berlin, focusing on family law.[9] Alongside that, between 2013 and 2016 he held a senior position with the newly launched Berlin Communications Consultancy "von Neuem".[10]
The author
editIn parallel with his professional career, Frank has emerged as an author on contemporary history. His biography of Walter Ulbricht appeared in 2001 and has become, in the eyes of many, a standard academic work.[2] His work "Der Tod im Führerbunker – Hitlers letzte Tage" ("Death in the Führerbunker - Hitler's final days") has already been translated into five languages, with non-German editions appearing under licence in Poland, France, Latvia, Hungary and the Czech Republic.[11] In October 2013 he published his biographical study of Joachim Gauck, at that time the President of Germany.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ a b Michael Hanfeld (9 May 2007). ""Spiegel"-Geschäftsführer Mario Frank: Wir investieren siebenstellige Summen". Mario Frank ist seit Jahresbeginn „Spiegel“-Geschäftsführer. Sein Start war von Machtkämpfen mit der Redaktion begleitet. Im Interview spricht er über den Aufbau neuer Geschäftsfelder, den Einstieg in den Sonntagsmarkt und massive Investitionen in den Online-Bereich. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ a b Anne Hähnig (27 June 2013). ""Kein guter Mensch"". Vor 40 Jahren starb Walter Ulbricht. Ihn als Witzfigur abzutun, hält sein Biograf Mario Frank für falsch: Dafür sei der SED-Chef zu brutal gewesen. ZEIT ONLINE GmbH, Hamburg. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ Stefan Braun (6 October 2013). "Joachim Gauck: Die verfrühte Biografie". Ein Bundespräsident, der nach eineinhalb Jahren im Amt auf sein Leben zurückblickt: Das wirkt eitel. Damit muss Joachim Gauck nun leben, obwohl das Buchprojekt schon vereinbart war, bevor er Anwärter auf das höchste Staatsamt wurde. Entstanden sind bemerkenswerte Einblicke. Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH, München. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ Mario Frank (1988). Das Justizministerium der DDR.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Hermann Wentker (1 January 2001). Einleitung. Oldenbourg Verlag. p. 9. ISBN 978-3-486-59614-4.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ ""Sachsen sind innovativer, als man denkt" G J-Geschäftsführer Dr. Mario Frank stellt Marketingdenke in den Vordergrund Philosophie: Neue Märkte erschließen, etablierte Märkte stabilisieren". adlr.link, Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig. ISSN 0175-7989. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
- ^ Nils Minkmar (26 April 2008). "Wechsel beim Spiegel : Mario Frank muss gehen". Am Freitag wurde ihm noch das Vertrauen ausgesprochen, am Samstag überraschend seine Ablösung verkündet: Mario Frank verliert seinen Geschäftsführerposten beim Spiegel. Seine Methoden waren lange umstritten, jetzt entzog ihm die Mitarbeiter KG das Vertrauen. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
- ^ "Der Spiegel: Ove Saffe übernimmt Geschäftsführung des SPIEGEL-Verlags am 15. September 2008". Anja zum Hingst i.A. Spiegel-Verlag, Hamburg. 26 August 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ "Kanzlei Dr. Frank - Anwälte für Familienrecht". Kanzlei Dr. Frank, Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ Tim Theobald (9 October 2013). "Von Neuem verzeichnet weitere Etatgewinne". Presse-Versorgung. Horizont (Zeitung für Marketing, Werbung und Medien), Framkfurt am Main. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
- ^ Der Tod im Führerbunker: Hitlers letzte Tage. Siedler Verlag. 16 March 2005. ISBN 978-3-886-80815-1.