{{short description|Austrian publisher, journalist and artist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox person |name = Oscar Bronner |image = Oscar Bronner BHO-1692.jpg |caption = Bronner in 2023 |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|1|14|df=yes}} |birth_place = Haifa, Mandatory Palestine (now Israel) |occupation = publisher, journalist, painter, sculptor |years_active = 1970s–present |father = Gerhard Bronner |website = {{url|oscarbronner.com}} }}
'''Oscar Bronner''' (born 14 January 1943) is an Austrian publisher, journalist, painter and sculptor. He founded the Austrian magazines ''trend'' and ''profil'' in 1970 and the daily newspaper ''Der Standard'' in 1988.
== Early life ==
Bronner was born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine, as the eldest son of Austrian cabaret artist, composer and writer Gerhard Bronner. His father had fled Austria after the Anschluss in 1938. In 1948, Bronner moved with his family to Vienna, where they settled after leaving Haifa.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Bronner, Oscar |encyclopedia=AEIOU / Österreich-Lexikon |url=https://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.b/b788135_en.htm |access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bronner, Oscar |url=https://austria-forum.org/af/Biographien/Bronner%2C_Oscar |website=Austria-Forum |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
Bronner grew up in an artistic environment shaped by his father's work in cabaret and theatre. He later worked in journalism, including for the ''Arbeiter-Zeitung'', ''Express'' and ''Kurier'', before founding his own media titles.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wallner |first=Anna |title=Oscar Bronner (Der Standard) |url=https://www.diemedien.at/articles/oscar-bronner |website=diemedien.at |date=30 August 2025 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
== Publishing career ==
In 1970, Bronner founded the monthly business magazine ''trend'' and, shortly afterwards, the news magazine ''profil''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Bronner, Oscar |encyclopedia=AEIOU / Österreich-Lexikon |url=https://www.aeiou.at/aeiou.encyclop.b/b788135_en.htm |access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref> In 1974, he sold his majority stakes in both magazines and moved to New York, where he worked as a painter and sculptor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bronner, Oscar |url=https://oe1.orf.at/artikel/695860/Bronner-Oscar |website=Ö1 / ORF |date=3 August 2022 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
After more than a decade in New York, Bronner returned to Vienna and founded the daily newspaper ''Der Standard''. The first issue appeared on 19 October 1988. The paper was launched in the context of debates around Kurt Waldheim and the perceived need for a liberal Austrian daily newspaper. Its salmon-coloured paper was modelled on the ''Financial Times'', reflecting its original emphasis on business and financial journalism.<ref>{{cite web |title=1988: Gründung der Zeitung „Der Standard“ |url=https://hdgoe.at/gruendung-der-standard |website=Haus der Geschichte Österreich |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
''Der Standard'' was founded with a 50 percent stake held by the German Axel Springer group. Bronner bought back Springer's stake in 1995. In 1998, the Süddeutscher Verlag acquired 49 percent of the newspaper; Bronner bought back those shares in 2008.<ref>{{cite web |title=Standard, der |url=https://www.demokratiezentrum.org/ressourcen/lexikon/der-standard/ |website=Demokratiezentrum Wien |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Zeitungen: Oscar Bronner übernimmt den „Standard“ ganz |url=https://www.diepresse.com/406035/zeitungen-oscar-bronner-uebernimmt-den-standard-ganz |work=Die Presse |date=13 August 2008 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
In November 2012, Bronner was elected president of the Austrian Press Council.<ref>{{cite web |title=Presserat wählt Oscar Bronner zum neuen Präsidenten |url=https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20121114_OTS0242/presserat-waehlt-oscar-bronner-zum-neuen-praesidenten |website=OTS.at |publisher=Austrian Press Council |date=14 November 2012 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref> In 2014, he withdrew from the operational management of ''Der Standard'', left the board and moved to the supervisory board, while remaining the newspaper's publisher.<ref>{{cite news |title="Standard"-Gründer Oscar Bronner legt Vorstandsfunktion zurück |url=https://www.diepresse.com/3805845/standard-gruender-oscar-bronner-legt-vorstandsfunktion-zurueck |work=Die Presse |date=15 May 2014 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref> His son Alexander Mitteräcker later took over the management of the Standard Group.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oscar Bronner ist 80 |url=https://www.journalistin.at/singlenews/uid-944195/oscar-bronner-ist-80/ |website=Journalistin |date=15 January 2023 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
== Legal case ==
Bronner's publishing company was involved in the European competition-law case ''Oscar Bronner GmbH & Co KG v Mediaprint'', decided by the European Court of Justice in 1998. The case concerned access to Mediaprint's nationwide newspaper home-delivery system and became a frequently cited decision on refusal to deal and the essential facilities doctrine in EU competition law.<ref>{{cite web |title=Judgment of the Court of 26 November 1998: Oscar Bronner GmbH & Co. KG v Mediaprint Zeitungs- und Zeitschriftenverlag GmbH & Co. KG and others, Case C-7/97 |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:61997CJ0007 |website=EUR-Lex |access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Case C-7/97 Oscar Bronner [1998] ECR I-7791 |url=https://lawprof.co/competition-law/article-102-cases/case-c-7-97-oscar-bronner-1998-ecr-i-7791/ |website=Lawprof.co |access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref>
== Art ==
Bronner has worked as a painter and sculptor, particularly during his years in New York and again after withdrawing from day-to-day media management. ORF described him in 2023 as devoting much of his time to painting and sculpture.<ref>{{cite web |title=Medienmacher Oscar Bronner ist 80 |url=https://wien.orf.at/stories/3190314/ |website=ORF Wien |date=14 January 2023 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
Art historian Dieter Ronte wrote in 1985 that Bronner worked in series, moving from flowers and male figures to landscapes, portraits and nudes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bronner |first1=Oscar |author2=Dieter Ronte |title=Ausgangspunkt Landschaft |url=http://www.oscarbronner.com/texte/ausgangspunkt-landschaft |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de |date=1985 |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119174540/http://www.oscarbronner.com/texte/ausgangspunkt-landschaft |url-status=live}}</ref>
In 2025, Charim Galerie in Vienna presented Bronner's solo exhibition ''Figura Serpentinata'', which showed new cast aluminium sculptures based on abstract geometric forms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oscar Bronner: Figura Serpentinata |url=https://www.charimgalerie.at/exhibition/bronner_figuraserpentinata |website=Charim Galerie |access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Oscar Bronner: Figura Serpentinata |url=https://www.esel.at/de/event/oscar-bronner-figura-serpentinata--02zluLrhFcHzNpN5RZ4Zg9 |website=esel.at |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref>
== Biography ==
In 2008, Austrian journalists Klaus Stimeder and Eva Weissenberger published a biography of Bronner titled ''Trotzdem – Die Oscar Bronner Story''. It was later published in English as ''Despite Everything – The Oscar Bronner Story''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Der ewige Kämpfer Oscar Bronner |url=https://www.profil.at/home/der-kaempfer-oscar-bronner-221258 |work=profil |date=4 October 2008 |access-date=25 May 2026 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Despite Everything: The Oscar Bronner Story |url=https://as.nyu.edu/research-centers/deutscheshaus/cultural-program/events/spring-2013/despite-everything-the-oscar-bronner-story.html |website=Deutsches Haus at NYU |access-date=25 May 2026}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{Official|http://www.oscarbronner.com}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronner, Oscar}} Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:Austrian Jews Category:Artists from Haifa Category:Austrian publishers (people) Category:Austrian journalists Category:Austrian magazine founders Category:20th-century Austrian painters Category:Austrian male painters Category:21st-century Austrian painters Category:21st-century Austrian male artists Category:20th-century Austrian male artists Category:Austrian sculptors