Rudolf Vogel – Eine Biographie zwischen Nationalsozialismus und Bundesrepublik
Rudolf Vogel – A Biography Embedded in National Socialism and the Federal Republic

Summary/Abstract: Rudolf Vogel (1906-1991) was one of the most influential conservative politicians in West-Germany during the first three decades after the Second World War. A member of the Bundestag for the Christian Democrats (CDU), he played a crucial role in the Southeast Europe Association (Südosteuropa-Gesellschaft / SOG). He was President of the SOG from 1959 to 1965, then Vice President until 1988. After his death, the SOG named its newly created journalist award for excellent reporting about Southeast Europe after him. Over the years, almost two dozen distinguished journalists were awarded the price. However, after it emerged that Vogel had published countless anti-Semitic and racist texts – he had in fact been a Nazi-propaganda journalist for many years after 1936 – his name was subsequently deleted from the award’s title. The article aims to highlight the continuities of political and scientific approach towards Southeast Europe in Germany spanning from the 1920s to the post-war era, drawing on the example of Rudolf Vogel and his life.

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