From media chancellor to newspaper editor

A few months after his time as Chancellor ends, Schmidt finds an important new responsibility in May 1983: he becomes a co-editor – and then publisher for some years – of the renowned weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT. Lying on top of the desk, as if by chance, is the issue featuring Schmidt’s article »Der Westen ist nicht schwach [The West is not weak]«, in which he calls for a »comprehensive strategy for security and détente«. In total, Schmidt publishes around 300 longer articles. They focus particularly on issues relating to European, defence and global economic policy. Included among the pieces are advance excerpts from Schmidt’s many books. Around two months after his death, on 10 November 2015, the publisher’s headquarters are renamed to »Helmut Schmidt House«.