It’s probably the divorce of the year: after 30 years of marriage, publisher Hubert Burda and his 27-year-younger Maria Furtwängler are going their separate ways.
The relevant announcement caused a sensation in the international public opinion: at the age of 91 the Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch is getting a divorce from former model Jerry Hall, 66. But a similar divorce is underway in Germany as well. THE major publisher Hubert Burda82 years old, and the actress Maria Furtwengler, 55 years old, decided to break the bonds of marriage. As a Furtwängler representative announced on Monday, “the two have been going their separate ways for some time now. But they will maintain friendly and family ties, among other things for the sake of the children.” The couple has a 32-year-old son, who is involved in new technology businesses, and a 30-year-old daughter, who excels as a musician under the name Kerfor.
Two strong personalities
In Germany, Hubert Burda is considered one of the most powerful names in publishing, as he owns around 600 titles and brands, including the German edition of Elle, the “brand magazine” Bunte, and the weekly news magazine Focus. Over the past 50 years, many have tried to launch a magazine that can compete with the legendary DER SPIEGEL, but Burda is the only one who can claim to have succeeded with Focus, at least in terms of the publication’s commercial value and market share. take off in the advertising market. However, unlike Murdoch, Burda prefers a conservative financial management, without bank loans and with his magazines remaining 100% “family property”, to this day.
Maria Furtwengler is also considered an extremely dynamic personality. Coming from a family with a tradition in the fine arts, she is the daughter of the actress Kathryn Ackerman and related to the famous chief musician Wilhelm Furtwängler. She first appeared in front of the camera at the age of seven, in a film directed by her uncle, Florian Furtwängler. She herself studied Medicine and for a short time worked as a doctor in Munich, but she was quickly won over by acting and to this day stars in popular family and detective series.
Social action and influence
Hubert Burda and Maria Furtwengler had a special presence in Munich society, as a “bright” and dynamic couple with intense social action in the fight against cancer, but also the prevention of domestic violence. “Power couple” is what the Bunte magazine of …Burda publications calls them even today. “They were one of the most famous, branded couples,” writes the Bavarian newspaper Kurier, pointing out that “until now they have always kept their family life out of the public eye.”
In 2003, Maria Furtwengler was awarded the Order of Federal Germany (Bundesverdienstkreuz) for her support to the NGO “Doctors for the Third World”. In 2016, together with her daughter, she founded the MaLisa foundation, which develops international actions to combat violence against women, as well as traditional “clichés” about her role.
DW – Yiannis Papadimitriou (DPA, SZ, Merkur)
Read the News today and get the latest news. Follow us on Google News and be the first to learn all the news from Skai.gr.
