Reimar Oltmanns (born in Schöningen, Germany in 1949) is a well-known journalist and author in Germany.
From 1970 to 1972 he was the spokesman for Peter von Oertzen, Minister of Culture for the Lower Saxony region.
Until 1970, Reimar Oltmanns was involved in various capacities with the Lower Saxony Young Democrats; afterwards he became President of this youth organisation, closely linked at this time to the FDP. He was a delegate to the regional and national congresses of the FDP and sat on the regional committee, without voting rights. The regional committee of the FDP party, with right wing politicians as well as deported German nationals were in dispute with the young democrats who they considered too close to the left wing opposition. Together with twenty leaders of the Young Democrats, Oltmanns rejoined the SPD.
He learned his journalistic profession with the newspapers “Cuxhavener Zeitung” and “Hannoversche Presse”. At the start of the 1970s he wrote from Hanover for the “Frankfurter Rundschau” and later from Bonn for “Stern”. At the same time he also wrote for "Stern" on German politics, and as chief editor on "Special Themes".
His influential teachers and mentors him wehe the professors Peter von Oertzen (*1929+2008) and Peter Brückner (*1922+1982) and the seniors editors, Karl-Hermann Flach (*1929+1973) of the Frankfurter Rundschau and Arnim von Manikowsky (*1928+2007) by Stern magazine n Hamburg.
In July 1977, Reimar Oltmanns (text) et John Kubicek (illustration) won first prize in a national competition under the theme of "30 years of Human Rights. Their entry, "So the burning of the Reichstag will never happen again" showed a wall of flames devouring the books of fundamental law.
25 years later, "Stern" magazine chose articles written by Reimar Oltmanns for their special editions dedicated to "The best reporting of 1977". The series of articles were written from Latin America on the subjects of torture, assassinations and concentration camps.
In March 1979, Reimar, together with Peter Koch, received the Egon-Erwin-Kisch Prize 1978, awarded by the established youth magazines "Elan" and “die roten Blätter” and supported by the German Democratic Republic. The prize was awarded for their articles on freedom published in “Stern”. This seriesof articles criticised the systematic development of electronic monitoring by the State, the exclusion and professional disqualification of those who deviated from the dominant thought.
In 1979, Reimar Oltmanns left the Hamburg-based magazine and became a freelance journalist and writer, reporting for “Spiegel” as well as “Der Zeit”.
In 1981,Reimar testified at the Hamburg High Court in the “trial of press coverage" (“Titelblattprozess”) during which the feminist Alice Schwarzer accused the editor of the “Stern”, Henri Nannen, of censorship and of representing women like simple sex objects. Reimar Oltmanns testified in favor of Alice Schwarzer, editor of “Emma”, from his inside knowledge of “Stern”.
After having gone to live in Frankfurt-on-Main, he continued to write for newspapers and magazines and published several books. He was in the years 1984/85, the editor of the magazine “Auftritt” in the Rhine-Hand area. In 1990, he moved Bologna (Italy) and since 1992-2009 has lived in France. Reimar Oltmanns lives now in Innsbruck (Austria). In recognition of his socially descriptions and books contributed to Reimar Oltmanns in 16. th juli 2009 in the Golden book of his hometown Schöningen. Since the 12th January 2012 he is a supporting member outdoors Radio Helsinki in Graz/Styria; since 2013 as a writer in Innsbruck.
He also reported from Latin America, Africa and Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, particularly in Italy and France, he wrote documentary articles about society and about travel.
Read more about Reimar Oltmanns: Works