Sources
Hoser, Paul: Die politischen, wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Hintergründe der Münchner Tagespresse zwischen 1914 und 1934. Methoden der Pressebeeinflussung, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1990.
<i>Munich-Augsburger Abendzeitung</i>
German-national, anti-democratic Munich daily newspaper (1912-1934)
The beginnings of the Augsburger Abendzeitung can be traced back to the year 1676. In 1912, the Verlag F. Bruckmann AG, the owner at the time, shifted the headquarters of this national liberal-oriented newspaper from Augsburg to Munich, where it was called the München-Augsburger Abendzeitung starting on December 2. Cajetan Freund, who set a Pan-German nationalist course during World War I, became Chief Editor in 1914. Given pressure from the military censorship authorities, he was therefore replaced on November 27, 1916 by Friedrich Möhl.
The company was sold in 1920. The new ownership group consisted of one-third from the Hugenburg Group and ethnic-chauvinist investors, Bavarian German nationals, and men who were associated with the German People’s Party (DVP) and who had received money from Bavarian banks and companies. The publisher was the Protestant preacher Gottfried Traub, who participated in the Kapp Putsch; Chief Editor starting on March 31, 1921 was Eugen Mündler. The newspaper supported Gustav von Kahr. Traub was also closely associated with Ludendorff. Although Hitler attacked the German nationals, Traub confronted him with sympathy. The main enemy for him were the Social Democrats. He also disparaged the Weimar democracy and its politicians. Although the antisemitic publisher Julius Friedrich Lehmann represented stakeholders, attacks on Jews were avoided.
Traub publicly approved the murders of separatist politicians in the Palatinate. With regard to the Held government, the newspaper was restrained given the coalition of the German National People's Party (DNVP) with the Bavarian People's Party (BVP), but it polemicized against the uniform prohibitions. In 1932, it advocated for a coalition of both parties with the Nazi Party. The Baltic German Fred Ottow replaced Mündler in September 1930. From 1928 to 1931, the future Reich press officer of the Nazi Party, Dr. Otto Dietrich, was the commercial editor. In 1920, the newspaper had a print run of 48,000; in 1933, it was only 20,000. Since it continued to lose money, it ceased publication at the end of 1934.