Friede Springer

Who is Friede Springer?

Friede Springer is a German publisher and widow of Axel Springer.

Being a Frisian gardener's daughter, she worked as a nanny at the Springer family's home from 1965 on and later became Springer's lover and eventual partner. In 1978 she became Springer's fifth wife. She is a member of the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Germany.

After Axel Springer's death she, together with children and grandchildren from his prior marriages, inherited Springer's shares in his publishing trust. At the time, Springer was still holding 26.1 per cent of the corporation, the rest was held by the Bavarian film trader Leo Kirch, the Burda family and several minor investors. Subsequently she became manager of Axel Springer AG and sole executive manager of the Springer Holding.

Under her guidance, the Springer heirs bought back the company's shares from the two Burda brothers for about DM 531 million in 1988. Five years prior, the brothers had paid half that sum for their share. As Springer's children leaned up against her in the following years, she bought the family members out and thus took over their shares. In 2002, she installed Mathias Döpfner as the new chairman of the board. He led the Springer AG out of its crisis and dissolved the tight bond with Munich based entrepreneur Leo Kirch.