Most Germans are probably familiar with the name Horst Stern in connection with animal welfare and television films ("Sterns Stunde"). However, before he made a career in these genres, Stern worked as an interpreter in post-war Germany and as a print journalist. Born in Stettin in 1922, he joined the "Stuttgarter Nachrichten" in 1950, which he left in 1955. Publisher Konrad-Wilhelm Delius brought him into the Bielefeld-based company, the headquarters of YACHT, "as a 'fireman' in a cloak-and-dagger operation" for several ailing properties.
His involvement with Delius Klasing Verlag began as a freelancer for the car magazine "Gute Fahrt", which he took over a few years later. Stern's expertise was soon also in demand elsewhere in the company. He worked in various roles for several magazines. He took on the position of editor for YACHT. In this position, the general course of a medium is generally set, free from the daily editorial routine.
Stern led the way on the bridge, so to speak, but he wasn't too shy to lend a hand in the engine room whenever it seemed necessary.
He was a forward thinker and at the same time a man with clear edges. He will never forget his speech at the venerable ocean sailing evening in Bremen, where he accused the sailing community of anti-environmental behaviour instead of giving the expected eulogy, which was formulated in composed words - the festive atmosphere then gave way to an icy silence.
As a journalist, Stern led YACHT out of the mire of the post-war years and into the modern age. He regularly published his "editor's word" on current issues of the day. His first editorial reads as resolutely as it was intended: "We cut off the old braids, but not the heads".
The reorganisation began when he aligned the sailing association's tame publication with journalistic criteria and encouraged readers to do something as unimaginable as write a review. He printed the result on several pages, much to the horror of his employer. But he also understood so much about the context that he recognised the need to reach broader target groups, as one would probably put it today. Stern said: "YACHT is also a commodity. If you only produce it for a minority, you are killing it."
And he increased the reach, the circulation, incessantly. Breaking with convention also contributed to this. Stern featured - unbelievably! - Stern featured a woman on the cover of the sailing magazine for the first time, which was something of a turning point. Another highlight under his aegis, which was also a great success with the readership, was the invention of the regular "YACHT test", in collaboration with the style-defining Dutch illustrator Robbert Das, among others. Stern also completely restructured the magazine and thus significantly fuelled the development of YACHT into Europe's largest sailing magazine.
After more than 20 years, the now enthusiastic sailor and owner of several boats left the publishing house at the end of 1989. In the meantime, Stern had already gained an excellent reputation as an animal filmmaker and environmentalist, not least as co-founder of the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND) and the German Environmental Foundation, as well as founder of the magazine "Natur".
But now it was time for something new again: the talented writer often set himself literary goals from 1984 onwards, but initially remained actively involved with YACHT. His involvement with the sailing magazine only ended with the last issue in 1989. "We measured our actions by his journalistic greatness", wrote the editorial team on his departure in issue 25/1989, he "was a stroke of luck for us". The article ends with the words: "Thank you very much, Horst Stern!"
Stern then retired to Ireland to write and largely withdrew from the public sphere in which he had previously been so present. This did not change even after his return to Germany in 2000. Since then, Stern lived a very secluded life in Passau and refused interviews and honours, which were offered to him in large numbers. After years in the limelight, he obviously wanted nothing more than peace and quiet.
Horst Stern died last Thursday at the age of 96.
