Axtmann, Otto Ludwig (gen. Horst)

Film journalist, publisher

Born: 27.06.1917 in Munich

died: 19.10.1995 in Wiesbaden

After studying newspaper science in Munich, Axtmann began his professional career as a journalist before it was interrupted by the Second World War. In 1946, he opened a press office in Munich which, among other things, published the notices of the Association of Bavarian Film Theatres. A year later, he became a correspondent for the trade magazine "Illustrierte Filmwoche", which was published in Baden-Baden. At the beginning of 1950, he took over as editor-in-chief of "Filmecho" in Hamburg.

A few months later, he relocated to Wiesbaden with the official organ of the then trade association of film theaters, where important branches of the newly forming German film production and film associations were based. In 1962, he also took over "Filmwoche" and merged the two magazines into a single title. Seven years later, the "Filmblätter" was added.

Under his leadership, "filmecho/filmwoche" became the central (between 1969 and 1975 the only) trade organ of the German film industry. In his regular columns, he argued in favor of high-quality, commercially successful films. He did not shy away from controversy (especially with representatives of the so-called new German cinema of the 1960s), but also always appealed to the unified interests of the entire industry.

In addition, he published an annual distribution catalog since 1950 and was one of the initiators of the "Goldene Leinwand" (Golden Screen) award for special cinema successes, which was donated by the Hauptverband der Filmtheater and "filmecho/filmwoche".

In 1969, he handed over the editorial management of the magazine and remained its editor until his death. The Horst Axtmann GmbH publishing house is still based in Wiesbaden in 2016.