He “stands for extraordinary success in publishing,” as Bavaria’s Minister President Edmund Stoiber put it when he bestowed the Jakob Fugger Medal on Hubert Burda. “He is a man full of entrepreneurial spirit, vision and a unique feel for future trends,” Stoiber emphasized at the award ceremony that took place at the Emperor’s Hall of the Munich Residence last Thursday. The beginning of the media age was “closely connected” with the name of Hubert Burda.

Showing extraordinary entrepreneurial intuition, the publisher had turned his parents’ family business into one of Germany’s and Europe’s largest media groups – with more than 7,000 employees and over 250 magazines and newspapers in 19 countries, Stoiber continued.

In addition, his commitment to society, cultural life and science as well as his “tireless dedication to the cause of reconciling Jews and Germans” represented an outstanding contribution to the dialogue between generations, cultures and religions.

In his panegyric “The permanent Renaissance”, Peter Sloterdijk illustrated the development of communication and the media since the Renaissance. The philosopher showed how societies also changed their forms of communication following major catastrophes.

Taking the black death epidemic of the 14th century as an example, the panegyrist demonstrated that biblical and meditative forms of literature were replaced by new, cheerful and narrative genres. Sloterdijk put special emphasis on Boccaccio’s Decamaron and called this collection of short novels a “discreet success of the quest for happiness” in times of privation. Over the course of the following centuries, these stories had further developed into the media as a strategic form of distributing information. Being a publisher today also meant to “have people participate in the mundane wonders”.

“I consider it a great honor to be awarded the Jakob Fugger Medal,” Hubert Burda stated, as the distinction harkened back to a person who had recognized the priceless value of information and its distribution as early as half a millennium ago.

The award is presented by the Foundation Jakob Fugger Medal, which belongs to the Bavarian Publishers Association, only every five to seven years. Former laureates include Axel Springer, Golo Mann, Aenne Burda and Reinhard Mohn.