{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Short description|German journalist and peace researcher (1956–2020)}} [[File:Otfried Nassauer, Juni 2018 in Bad Herrenalb.jpg|thumb|Nassauer in 2018 at the Protestant Academy Baden in Bad Herrenalb]] '''Otfried Nassauer''' (August 20, 1956 – October 1, 2020) was a German journalist and peace researcher, who interacted between civil society, mass media and politics. Over the course of four decades he had a profound impact on the public discourse in Germany and beyond about German and international military policy, especially in the fields of arms control and arms exports.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Brzoska|first=Michael|date=October 5, 2020|title=Vorkämpfer für den Frieden – Nachruf auf Otfried Nassauer|url=https://ifsh.de/news-detail/vorkaempfer-fuer-den-frieden-nachruf-auf-otfried-nassauer|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik an der Universität Hamburg|language=de-DE}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Dewitz|first=Christian|date=October 5, 2020|title=Otfried Nassauer: Militärexperte, Friedensforscher, Journalist|url=https://www.bundeswehr-journal.de/2020/otfried-nassauer-militaerexperte-friedensforscher-journalist/|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=bundeswehr-journal|language=en}}</ref>

== Life == thumb|Nassauer (right) with Fischer in 1992 at the book presentation of "Satansfaust" Nassauer was born in Siegen. He studied Protestant theology at the University of Hamburg.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 13, 2001|title=otfried nassauer|language=de|pages=4|work=Die Tageszeitung: taz|url=https://taz.de/!1146579/|access-date=October 12, 2020|issn=0931-9085}}</ref> Shortly after the founding of the political party ''The Greens'' in 1980 he joined its section "Peace and International Affairs" and its federal working group "Peace" as an independent expert. Three years later he became also an adviser on security policy in the newly formed coordination committee of the German peace movement.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Biermann|first=Wolfgang|last2=Blum|first2=Inga|last3=Brandt|first3=Peter|last4=Finckh-Krämer|first4=Ute|last5=Frey|first5=Uli|last6=Zimmermann|first6=Burkhard|date=October 8, 2020|title=Wir trauern um Otfried Nassauer|url=https://neue-entspannungspolitik.berlin/wir-trauern-um-otfried-nassauer/|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=neue-entspannungspolitik.berlin|language=de}}</ref> When Angelika Beer – a leading politician of the Green party at the time – was elected to be a member of the Bundestag, Germany's Federal Parliament, Nassauer served as a close adviser to her, especially with regard to her membership in the defense committee.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|last=Beer|first=Angelika|date=October 16, 2020|title=Otfried Nassauer ins Tot! Ein Brief an Otfried|url=http://www.angelika-beer.de/?p=24477|access-date=October 17, 2020|website=angelika-beer.de|language=de}}</ref> thumb|Protests at Büchel Air Base in 2008 Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Nassauer organised a meeting between officers of the National People's Army from the Friedrich Engels Military Academy in Dresden and their West German counterparts from the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College in Hamburg.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Flocken|first=Andreas|date=October 5, 2020|title=Nachruf auf Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/sendungen/streitkraefte_und_strategien/Nachruf-auf-Otfried-Nassauer,streitkraefte634.html|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=www.ndr.de|language=de}}</ref> Along with East German military members and peace activists he then attended events both at the NATO headquarters in Brussels and at the General staff of the Armed Forces in Moscow.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Schwarz|first=Wolfgang|last2=Fischer|first2=Siegfried|last3=Trenin|first3=Dmitri|last4=Schreiber|first4=Wilfried|date=October 9, 2020|title=In memoriam Otfried Nassauer (1956–2020)|url=https://das-blaettchen.de/2020/10/in-memoriam-otfried-nassauer-1956-2020-54453.html|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Das Blattchen|language=de-DE}}</ref>

In 1991, Nassauer and other peace researchers both from the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR) co-founded the Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security (BITS) in the former East-Berlin.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> In the following year he and his co-director Siegfried Fischer, a former field officer of the People's Navy and military lecturer, edited the anthology ''Satansfaust, Das nukleare Erbe der Sowjetunion'' mit Beiträgen (The Fist of Satan: the Nuclear Legacy of the Soviet Union") with contribution by experts from both the Western world and the former Eastern Bloc.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nassauer|first=Otfried|title=Satansfaust: Das nukleare Erbe der Sowjetunion|last2=Fischer|first2=Siegfried|publisher=Aufbau-Verlag|year=1992|isbn=978-3-351-02401-7|location=Berlin}}</ref> [[File:INS Tanin (Dolphin II class).JPG|thumb|A Dolphin II class submarine commissioned for the Israeli Navy at the HDW shipyard in Kiel (2012)]] As director of BITS for almost three decades Nassauer went on to analyse the whole spectrum of developments in the field of security policy. One major focus he kept were the arms control regimes for nuclear weapons, particularly Germany's nuclear sharing through hosting U.S. nuclear weapons at Büchel Air Base.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nassauer|first=Otfried|date=January 2013|title=Germany’s Tornado Nuclear Weapons Carrier|url=https://bits.de/public/unv_a/orginal-tornado_eng.htm|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=bits.de}}</ref> Another main area of his expertise was the complex of German arms exports. It was especially his research on the transfer of German-built Dolphin-class submarines – and his conclusion that they could deploy nuclear missiles – to Israel which confirmed his expert status on the international level.<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 25, 2003|title=Subs a Ploy in Battle for Middle Eastern Influence|url=https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/subs-ploy-battle-middle-eastern-influence|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Stratfor|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=January 20, 2010|title=Israel, Germany in sub deal negotiations|url=https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2010/01/20/Israel-Germany-in-sub-deal-negotiations/54401264025609/|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=UPI|language=en}}</ref> However, he concentrated not only on heavy weapons, but also on small arms,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Knight|first=Ben|date=February 3, 2017|title=Heckler & Koch bids to replace its own tarnished gun|url=https://www.dw.com/en/heckler-koch-bids-to-replace-its-own-tarnished-gun/a-37405579|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Deutsche Welle (DW)|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Heckler & Koch|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/europe/hk.htm|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=www.globalsecurity.org}}</ref> first and foremost in cooperation with pacifist activist Jürgen Grässlin on German gun-maker Heckler & Koch.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Case 02: G36 in Mexico (Long version)|url=https://www.gn-stat.org/english/cases/mexico-lv-eng/|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Global Net Stop The Arms Trade (GN STAT)|language=en}}</ref> After the founding of the German section of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines in 1995 Nassauer supported it by co-authoring a study book about land mines made in Germany.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Küchenmeister|first=Thomas|title='Gute Mine' zum bösen Spiel? Landminen made in Germany|last2=Nassauer|first2=Otfried|publisher=KOMZI Vlg.|year=1997|isbn=978-3-929522-31-0|location=Idstein|language=de}}</ref>

As the Alliance 90/The Greens opened up to military interventions abroad over the course of the 1990s, Nassauer increasingly provided consultancy to the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and its successor, The Left.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|last=Baron|first=Christian|date=October 7, 2020|title=Otfried Nassauer ist tot – Möge er Frieden finden|url=https://digital.freitag.de/4120/die-woche/|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=digital.freitag.de|language=de}}</ref>

Nassauer published his journalistic works regularly in a multitude of mass media outlets, amongst them the left-wing daily newspapers ''Die Tageszeitung'' (taz),<ref>{{Cite web|last=taz. die tageszeitung|title=Artikel von Otfried Nassauer – taz.de|url=https://taz.de/!a10688/|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=taz.de|language=de}}</ref> ''Neues Deutschland'' (ND) and ''Junge Welt'', the weekly news magazine Der Spiegel,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nassauer|first=Otfried|last2=Gebauer|first2=Matthias|date=May 8, 2013|title=German Government Approves Export of Tanks to Indonesia|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-government-approves-export-of-tanks-to-indonesia-a-898698.html|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=DER SPIEGEL international|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Nassauer|first=Otfried|last2=Repinski|first2=Gordon|last3=Trauvetter|first3=Gerald|date=May 10, 2013|title=Safety Problems: Eurofighter Costs Soar amid {{as written|Misman|agment [sic]}}|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/safety-problems-eurofighter-costs-soar-amid-mismanagment-a-910231.html|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=DER SPIEGEL international|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Becker|first=Markus|last2=Nassauer|first2=Otfried|date=November 6, 2013|title=US Modernizing Its Nuclear Arsenal Despite Criticism Over Weapons|url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/us-modernizing-its-nuclear-arsenal-despite-criticism-over-weapons-a-932188.html|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=DER SPIEGEL international|language=en}}</ref> and the bi-weekly ''Das Blättchen''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Schlagwort-Archiv: Otfried Nassauer (in 33 Beiträgen)|url=https://das-blaettchen.de/schlagwort/otfried-nassauer|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Das Blättchen|language=de-DE}}</ref> In radio broadcasting he particularly shaped the weekly programme ''Streitkräfte und Strategien'' ("Armed forces and strategies") of the public service broadcaster ''Norddeutscher Rundfunk'' (NDR) with more than 150 contributions since 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Flocken|first=Andreas|date=October 5, 2020|title=Nachruf auf Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/info/sendungen/streitkraefte_und_strategien/Nachruf-auf-Otfried-Nassauer,streitkraefte634.html|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=NDR|language=de}}</ref> In the field of television he was particularly active with background research for the investigative programmes of the public broadcaster ARD, e.g. ''Monitor'' and ''Report Mainz''.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 5, 2020|title=MONITOR trauert um Otfried Nassauer|language=de|work=MONITOR (WDR)|url=https://www1.wdr.de/daserste/monitor/nachruf-nassauer-100.html|access-date=October 12, 2020}}</ref>

== Legacy == [[File:BITS-OtfriedNassauer 28062010.jpg|thumb|2010 at BITS during a meeting with MP Kathrin Vogler (The LEFT)]] On September 30, 2020, the Berlin-based International League for Human Rights informed Nassauer about its decision to award him the Carl von Ossietzky Medal.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 9, 2020|title=Carl-von-Ossietzky-Medaille 2020 an Otfried Nassauer (verstorben am 1.10.2020) {{!}} Internationale Liga für Menschenrechte|url=https://ilmr.de/2020/carl-von-ossietzky-medaille-2020-an-otfried-nassauer-verstorben-am-1-10-2020|access-date=December 10, 2020|website=Internationale Liga für Menschenrechte|language=de-DE}}</ref> On the very next day he died at his Berlin apartment aged 64.

The fact that both his expertise and personality were widely appreciated was demonstrated by a multitude of obituaries not only from church and secular peace activist groups,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 5, 2020|title=Wir trauern um Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.aufschrei-waffenhandel.de/neues/neuigkeiten/einzelansicht/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=2779&cHash=da57598368aae4528b5356eeb8efef11|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Aktion Aufschrei – Stoppt den Waffenhandel!}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Ruttig|first=Thomas|date=October 4, 2020|title=RIP Otfried Nassauer (1956–2020)|url=https://thruttig.wordpress.com/2020/10/04/rip-otfried-nassauer-1956-2020/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Afghanistan Zhaghdablai|language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Schmid|first=Michael|date=October 7, 2020|title=Trauer um Friedensforscher Otfried Nassauer (1956–2020)|url=https://www.lebenshaus-alb.de/magazin/013249.html|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Lebenshaus Schwäbische Alb e.V.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Müller-Langsdorf|first=Sabine|last2=Burggraf|first2=Wolfgang|date=October 5, 2020|title=Evangelische Friedensarbeit trauert um Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.evangelische-friedensarbeit.de/artikel/2020/evangelische-friedensarbeit-trauert-um-otfried-nassauer|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Evangelische Friedensarbeit}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 5, 2020|title=pax christi trauert um Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.paxchristi.de/meldungen/view/5811775584862208/pax%20christi%20trauert%20um%20Otfried%20Nassauer|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=pax christi – Deutsche Sektion|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Böttger|first=Martin|date=October 4, 2020|title=Ein Guter weniger|url=https://extradienst.net/2020/10/04/ein-guter-weniger/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Beueler Extradienst|language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Happe|first=Barbara|date=October 5, 2020|title=Nachruf auf Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/ruestungsexporte/nachruf-auf-otfried-nassauer/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Dachverband der Kritischen Aktionärinnen und Aktionäre|language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Hall|first=Xanthe|last2=Steffen|first2=Jens-Peter|date=October 4, 2020|title=Die IPPNW betrauert den Verlust eines ganz engen Freundes – Nachruf für Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.ippnw.de/startseite/artikel/de/die-ippnw-betrauert-den-verlust-eine.html|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Deutsche Sektion der Internationalen Ärzte für die Verhütung des Atomkrieges/Ärzte in sozialer Verantwortung e.V. (IPPNW)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 9, 2020|title=>Kannte jede verdammte Schraube< - Stimmen zum Tod von Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.ohne-ruestung-leben.de/nachrichten/article/stimmen-zum-tod-von-otfried-nassauer-394.html|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Ohne Rüstung Leben|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Fischer|first=Martina|date=October 8, 2020|title=Zum Tod von Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.brot-fuer-die-welt.de/blog/2020-zum-tod-von-otfried-nassauer/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Brot für die Welt|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Zepp|first=Marianne|date=October 12, 2020|title=Nachruf Otfried Nassauer|url=https://diak.org/2020/10/12/nachruf-otfried-nassauer/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=diAk e.V.|language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Grässlin|first=Jürgen|last2=Möhrle|first2=Stephan|date=October 5, 2020|title=Das RüstungsInformationsBüro trauert um Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.rib-ev.de/2020/10/05/das-ruestungsinformationsbuero-trauert-um-otfried-nassauer/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=RüstungsInformationsBüro e.V.|language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Schlupp-Hauck|first=Wolfgang|date=October 14, 2020|title=Seine Unterstützung wird uns fehlen: Nachruf auf Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.friedenskooperative.de/seine-unterstuetzung-wird-uns-fehlen-nachruf-auf-otfried-nassauer|access-date=October 14, 2020|website=Netzwerk Friedenskooperative – Network of the German Peace Movement|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Frey|first=Ulrich|date=October 15, 2020|title=Nachruf auf den Friedensforscher Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.fremd-vertraut.de/Otfried-Nassauer-701.php|access-date=October 16, 2020|website=Koordinationskreis der Ökumenischen Konsultation Gerechtigkeit und Frieden – Evangelische Akademie im Rheinland|language=de}}</ref> but also from leading journalists<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wiegold|first=Thomas|date=October 4, 2020|title=Otfried Nassauer wird fehlen: Erst die Fakten, dann die Meinung – Augen geradeaus!|url=https://augengeradeaus.net/2020/10/otfried-nassauer-wird-fehlen-erst-die-fakten-dann-die-meinung/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Augen geradeaus!}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Bauer|first=Max|date=October 5, 2020|title=Friedensforscher Otfried Nassauer ist tot – Ein ganz präziser Blick auf Krieg und Frieden|url=https://www.swr.de/swr2/leben-und-gesellschaft/friedensforscher-otfried-nassauer-ist-tot-ein-ganz-praeziser-blick-auf-krieg-und-frieden-100.html|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=SWR2 Journal am Mittag|language=de|archive-date=October 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009185331/https://www.swr.de/swr2/leben-und-gesellschaft/friedensforscher-otfried-nassauer-ist-tot-ein-ganz-praeziser-blick-auf-krieg-und-frieden-100.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and newspapers of record,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Winkelmann|first=Ulrike|date=October 4, 2020|title=Nachruf auf Otfried Nassauer: Beharrlich für den Frieden|language=de|work=Die Tageszeitung: taz|url=https://taz.de/!5715921/|access-date=October 13, 2020|issn=0931-9085}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 5, 2020|title=Otfried Nassauer gestorben|url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/ruestungsexperte-otfried-nassauer-gestorben-1.5054853|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Süddeutsche.de|language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Heilig|first=René|date=October 4, 2020|title=Otfried Nassauer wird fehlen – Renommierter Friedensforscher ist gestorben. Ein Nachruf|url=https://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/1142624.otfried-nassauer-otfried-nassauer-wird-fehlen.html|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Neues Deutschland (nd)|language=de}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> academia,<ref name=":3" /> politicians of different parties and colours<ref>{{Cite web|last=W.|first=Karl|date=October 5, 2020|title=Otfried Nassauer gestorben|url=https://www.gruene-linke.de/2020/10/05/otfried-nassauer-gestorben/|access-date=October 12, 2020|website=Grüne Linke|language=de-DE|archive-date=October 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010150547/https://www.gruene-linke.de/2020/10/05/otfried-nassauer-gestorben/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|last=Golla|first=Kristian|date=October 17, 2020|title=Wir nehmen Abschied von unserem Freund, Kollegen und Mitstreiter Otfried Nassauer|url=https://www.friedenskooperative.de/sites/default/files/traueranzeige_otfried.pdf|access-date=October 17, 2020|website=Netzwerk Friedenskooperative|language=de|format=PDF}}</ref> as well as from military circles.<ref name=":0" /> [[File:OtfriedNassauer VortragRheinmetall16042018 BodoPSchmitz-MutbuergerdokusDe.jpg|thumb|2018 in Düsseldorf at an Ethicon event on Rheinmetall's arms business]]

He was mourned on the international stage, too. For instance, Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists commented:<blockquote>"I'm saddened to learn of the passing of Otfried Nassauer, a friend and long-term collaborator on European nuclear weapons issues. He was a tireless researcher & advocate".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kristensen|first=Hans|date=2020-10-05|title=I’m saddened to learn of the passing of Otfried Nassauer|url=https://twitter.com/nukestrat/status/1313130063592857600|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref></blockquote> The South African writer, campaigner and ex-ANC MP Andrew Feinstein remarked: <blockquote>"The leading authority on German arms makers & exports. An extraordinary character, meticulous researcher & committed campaigner. A huge loss to the German & global peace movement. Rest in peace, kamerad"<ref>{{Cite web|last=Feinstein|first=Andrew|date=2020-10-03|title=The remarkable German arms researcher, Otfried Nassauer, has passed away.|url=https://twitter.com/andrewfeinstein/status/1312442713891954688|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Twitter|language=en}}</ref></blockquote>On October 17, 2020, a one-page death notice was published in the weekend edition of the daily ''taz'', which was signed by 228 individuals as well as by 83 organisations and groups.<ref name=":6" />

==See also== * List of peace activists

== Further reading ==

* [https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/israel-deploys-nuclear-weapons-on-german-built-submarines-a-836784.html Operation Samson: Israel's Deployment of Nuclear Missiles on Subs from Germany] (DER SPIEGEL international, June 4, 2012) * [https://bits.de/public/unv_a/surety-201210.htm U.S.-Nuclear Weapons Surety 1990/91 and the Bush PNI in 1991 – A Comparison] (bits.de, October 2012) * [https://bits.de/public/reden/red05062012.htm NATO’s New Strategic Concept and Nuclear Weapons] (presentation at the European Parliament, July 5, 2012) * [https://bits.de/public/unv_a/orginal-200512eng.htm NATO: Nuclear (Non-) Sharing] (May 20, 2012) * [https://bits.de/public/reden/red02052012.htm European Nuclear Disarmament – A Germany without nuclear weapons in the near future?] (Vienna International Centre, May 2, 2012) * [https://bits.de/public/unv_a/january12.htm Up for a new era? – German arms trade with the MENA region] (January 2012)

== External links ==

* [http://bits.de/index.html Berlin Information-center for Transatlantic Security (BITS)] * [http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n87940037/ Nassauer's works in the Worldcat]

== References == {{reflist}}

{{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Nassauer, Otfried}} Category:1956 births Category:Peace and conflict scholars Category:Nonviolence advocates Category:German pacifists Category:German anti-war activists Category:German anti–nuclear weapons activists Category:2020 deaths Category:People from Siegen Category:People from Berlin Category:University of Hamburg alumni