Last Monday night, Konrad-Wilhelm Delius died at his home in Bielefeld. The senior publisher at Delius Klasing Verlag successfully managed the fortunes of the company for over 40 years. In 1989, he handed over the reins to his son Konrad.
Konrad-Wilhelm Delius was born in Bielefeld on 7 September 1916 as the second son of the publishing bookseller Konrad Delius and grew up in Berlin. After leaving school, he completed an apprenticeship as a bookseller in Munich. He then attended the bookselling school in Leipzig before studying economics in Berlin and Freiburg.
On 1 October 1946, he finally took over the management of the publishing house founded in 1911 from his father Konrad Delius and his uncle Christian Klasing. Since 1989, the family business has been run by his son Konrad Delius in the fourth generation.
After the Second World War, Konrad-Wilhelm Delius worked from Bielefeld to ensure that Delius Klasing became one of the largest special interest publishers in Europe. He ran the company together with his brothers Hans-Heinrich and Kurt Delius.
As a passionate sailor, Konrad-Wilhelm Delius relaunched YACHT magazine, founded in 1904 and the highest-circulation sailing magazine on the continent, in 1949. One year later, in autumn 1950, Delius founded a magazine for Volkswagen drivers: GUTE FAHRT - today the car magazine for Volkswagen and Audi.
In the following years, further magazines were added that are still market leaders in their segments today. These include the motorboat magazine BOOTE and the windsurfing magazine SURF.
Konrad-Wilhelm Delius also expanded the maritime book programme under his aegis. Delius has been involved in the German Publishers and Booksellers Association since the mid-1970s in various honorary roles and has achieved a great deal for the industry.
Delius was awarded the silver badge of honour three years ago for his 30 years of service on the board of the North Rhine-Westphalia regional association. For many years, he was also on the board of the Theater- und Konzertfreunde Bielefeld, of which he was made an honorary member some time ago.
The well-being of his employees was very important to Konrad-Wilhelm Delius, who until recently was still a frequent visitor to the publishing house. With his charismatic manner and his human qualities, he shaped the publishing house in an exemplary manner and was always held in high regard in Bielefeld and at the editorial sites.
Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT
