Hans Dichand

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R.I.P
Hans

Hans Dichand (29 January 1921 in Graz – 17 June 2010 in Vienna) was an Austrian journalist, writer, and media businessman. He published the tabloid newspaper Kronen Zeitung, Austria's largest newspaper in terms of readership, in which at the time of his death he held a 50% stake. As the publisher and majority owner of this newspaper Dichand became a highly significant political power factor during recent decades. Although this influence is direct only in Austria, it indirectly affects the European Union through the behavior of the Austrian government, which cannot afford to ignore the Kronen Zeitung. He was also an important art collector, focusing himself on Art Nouveau from Austria. Youth and service in World War II Information on Hans Dichand's early life has to rely on information published in two authorized biographies (one by the U.S. correspondent of the Kronen Zeitung Hans Janitschek and another one by Austrian writer Lore Jarosch to which Arnold Schwarzenegger has written the preface), and his autobiography. If Jarosch states in her book that "Austria's most powerful man is a mystery," this is true to the extent that little or no independently verified information has been published on the youth of Hans Dichand,…Citește mai mult

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Journalist in post-war Austria Again according to the self-written or approved biographies, Dichand was released from British captivity in October 1945, returned to Graz in November, and became a journalist at the British news service for Allied-occupied Austria where he was tasked with recording content broadcast by the BBC radio service and with processing it for publication in the Neue Steirischen Zeitung. In 1946, at age 25, Dichand became editor-in-chief of the Judenburg newspaper Murtaler Zeitung which at that time was jointly owned by the conservative, socialist, and communist parties of Austria. In 1949 he secured himself an equivalent position at the newly founded independent Kleine Zeitung which was facing a boycott by the party-controlled Austrian state news agency. Building on his experience in British service, Dichand was able to solve that problem by accessing international newswires. During the following five years he developed the Kleine Zeitung into Austria's largest regional daily newspaper. In 1954 Dichand became editor in chief of the Wiener Kurier, the predecessor of today's Kurier. However, Dichand soon faced increasing opposition from his staff because he prevented extensive reporting on the many legal proceedings against war criminals that were ongoing at this time. "He instinctively felt…Citește mai mult

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Founding the Neue Kronen Zeitung When Dichand walked away from the Wiener Kurier in October 1958 six leading journalists (which included the author and theatre critic Hans Weigel) left with him. These journalists formed the initial core team for a new newspaper, conceived by Dichand and his partner Friedrich Dragon, with the intent of reviving the time-honored name Kronen-Zeitung. Franz Olah, then president of the powerful Austrian Trade Union Federation, provided a contact with the businessman Kurt Falk and also facilitated substantial funding for the project, from sources that ultimately remained untraced. The rise of the Neue Kronen Zeitung to an unprecedented degree of readership coverage, especially since the mid-1960s and especially in the densely populated Northeast of Austria, became inextricably entwined with the person of Hans Dichand and his personal leadership.

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Media power, attitudes, and criticism The newspaper which Dichand created and shaped allowed him to attain a position of public opinion-moving power which most politicians feel they could oppose only at the peril of their careers. In June 2009 a commentary in the Wiener Zeitung summarized: "In this country he exercises power comparable only to that of the Roman imperators; merely by lifting or lowering his thumb he can point a two-digit percentage of the electorate this way or that." Helmut Kukacka, a former Secretary of State and media contact of the conservative Austrian People's Party, was cited by the major German newspaper Die Zeit as saying with (careful but unusually direct) reference to Dichand, "One has his fears. One makes his arrangements." In the commentary part of the same article Die Zeit was more outspoken: "Where Dichand's wrath falls, destruction reigns." However, Dichand (who wrote using the pseudonym Cato, in apparent reference to the Roman statesmen Cato the Elder and/or Cato the Younger) has always presented himself as being "...not interested in personal power at all. What am I supposed to do with power? I'd rather stay at home and fuss with my dog. What I am after, and…Citește mai mult

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Relevance for the European Union The Kronen Zeitung had supported the Austrian government's successful referendum campaign for EU accession in 1994, but after that time Dichand (and his newspaper) turned highly critical of the European Union and its expansion, frequently citing the most bizarre myths and making unverifiable allegations. Although the Kronen Zeitung is hardly known beyond Austria's borders its influence on the country's politics has already affected Austria's representation in the European Parliament by Dichand's massive support for the extremely EU-critical Hans-Peter Martin's List, and in 2008 the leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Austria wrote an open letter to Dichand in which they committed themselves to making Austrian consent to "all important EU matters that impact Austria" contingent on a public referendum in Austria, specifically naming changes in the Treaties of the European Union and the accession of Turkey to the European Union as examples.

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Art collection The Hans Dichand collection is one of the most mysterious in Europe. Only a few works belonging to the collection are known, such as the Danaë by Klimt or 150 graphics by Kubin, shown in 1999 in an exhibition in Eisenstadt. Reports from visitors to his villa confirm that it is one of the most significant private art collections in Austria. It predominantly consists of works from the Art Nouveau movement and Classical Modernism from Austria, with a focus on Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka, Moll, Egger-Lienz, Gerstl, Boeckl, and Wotruba. The collection is spread across the various residences of the family and partly in duty-free warehouses in Switzerland. The value of the collection is estimated at several hundred million Euros. Dichland's daughter-in-law, Eva Dichand, is also a renowned art collector, however with a different focus. She collects international contemporary art.

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Personal life Dichand was briefly hospitalized after suffering a fall in August 2008 but soon returned to his personal office from where he directed the Kronen Zeitung as its chief executive and 50-percent owner, although in 2003 he installed his youngest son Christoph as his successor in the role of editor in chief. Dichand, who was married, had another son (Michael) and a daughter, Johanna. He dismissed as baseless a rumor that had claimed the head of the socialdemocratic party and chancellor of Austria, Werner Faymann to be an extramarital son.

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Books by Hans Dichand Kronen Zeitung : Die Geschichte eines Erfolges. Orac Verlag, Vienna 1977 Begegnung mit Paris. Wien 1982; ISBN 3-217-01229-1 Die Künstler der klassischen Moderne in Österreich. Propyläen Verlag, Berlin and Vienna 1989; ISBN 3-549-05311-8 Im Vorhof der Macht. Iberia & Molden Verlag, Vienna 1996; ISBN 3-900436-36-3