Die Tat was a social liberal Swiss newspaper published by Migros from 1935 to 1978, first as a weekly, then as an evening daily and finally as a morning tabloid.
It was launched by the founder of Migros, Gottlieb Duttweiler. While the weekly newspaper was the party organ of the Alliance of Independents, the daily paper quickly emancipated from it and also gained a high reputation outside Switzerland, in particular thanks to its weekend supplement Die literarische Tat under the direction of Max Rychner and Erwin Jaeckle and the collaboration of numerous well-known journalists. The decline of the political press in the 1970s, combined with a lack of advertising revenue due to its proximity to Migros, led to the closure of the daily newspaper at the end of March 1977.
The then president of Migros, Pierre Arnold, tried to continue the title as a tabloid. However, after 16 months, the paper's harsh style, which was critical of the economy, forced him to dismiss editor-in-chief Roger Schawinski. Without consulting the editorial team, he appointed Karl Vögeli in his place, who was supposed to guarantee a more moderate direction for the paper. The following protest strike by the editorial team led to the closure of the tabloid at the end of September 1978, just one and a half years after its launch.
The Swiss National Library has fully digitized Die Tat and made it available online in 2016.
Weekly newspaper (1935–1939)
For the first four years of its existence, Die Tat was a weekly newspaper. The first number appeared on November 12, 1935, with the subtitle "Wochenpost der sieben Unabhängigen" ("Weekly mail of the seven independents"). It referred to the seven members of the "Association of Independents" who had won a seat on the National Council in 1935: Franklin Bircher, Gottlieb Duttweiler, Ulrich Eggenberger,Göldi, Wolfgang. Eggenberger, Ulrich. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Heinrich Schnyder,Peter-Kubli, Susanne. Schnyder, Heinrich. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Willy Stäubli,Peter-Kubli, Susanne. Stäubli, Willy. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Fritz WüthrichPeter-Kubli, Susanne. Wüthrich, Fritz. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. and Balthasar Zimmermann.
Duttweiler wrote that they wanted to produce "a simple, serious weekly 'accountability report' from the 7 independents for their friends". No advertisements were taken out so as not to compete with the press and to remain independent (there were only a few advertisements from the travel agency Hotel-Plan, which was founded in the same year and belonged to Migros; still written as such at the time). Die Tat wanted to "report objectively while avoiding controversy" and also "let opponents have their say briefly." He also stated as a motive for founding the newspaper the resistance to National Socialism in Switzerland, which Die Tat opposed without compromise from the very beginning.
Editorial team The newspaper's first editor-in-chief was Hermann Walder, the lawyer for Migros.... He served until 19 November 1937, when he was succeeded by journalist Eugen Theodor Rimli. Rimli remained editor-in-chief until 28 April 1939, when Willy Aerni, managing director of the Alliance of Independents (LdU), took over the position.
After leaving the editorship, Walder joined the editorial board of Die Tat, where he remained until the newspaper's separation from Gottlieb Duttweiler in October 1943. Rimli continued to contribute articles to the newspaper after stepping down as editor-in-chief. Following the launch of the daily edition, Aerni served as head of the administration and advertising department until the end of May 1948.
Development
Die Tat was printed in the old Züricher Post printing works on the premises of the old university on St.-Peter-Strasse in the center of Zurich. At the beginning of 1937, after the founding of the LdU, the newspaper was given a larger format and a size of 6 to 8 pages instead of 4, exceptionally also 12 and 16 pages, changed its title from "Die" to "Schlengge" and its subtitle to "Wochenpost des Landesrings der Unabhängigen". From then on, it was published on Fridays instead of Wednesdays (only the first issue was published on a Tuesday). From this point on, it also took advertisements.
Following Migros' decision to publish a daily newspaper, the last issue of the weekly Tat was published in its previous form on September 29, 1939. Until the publication of Brückenbauer (today's Migros-Magazin) on September 25, 1942, Migros continued to publish Tat (Wochenpost) with a different editorial mission.Der Lebenslauf der «Tat». In: Jubiläumsausgabe 20 Jahre Tageszeitung «Die Tat». October 2, 1959, p. 1.
Daily newspaper (1939–1977) On September 8, 1939, Die Tat announced the conversion of the weekly newspaper into a daily newspaper on October 1.
Duttweiler initially wanted to call it Der Tag, with the previous weekly paper appearing as a Friday edition. However, as a result of this and the change of title, the Federal Council stated that it was a newly founded newspaper, which was forbidden according to a Federal Council resolution of September 8, 1939. Duttweiler then decided to keep the name Die Tat and not to publish the Friday edition as a continuation of the weekly paper. The Federal Council then approved the daily newspaper, which first appeared on October 2, 1939 (available the evening before), now with the subtitle "Schweizerische unabhängige Tageszeitung" (Swiss independent daily newspaper), six times a week in the evening, always with the date of the next day. Until November 7, 1939, Tuesday was the publication-free day, then Sunday.
Duttweiler justified the need to expand Die Tat into a daily newspaper by pointing out that the rest of the Swiss daily press was closed to the LdU. However, only a daily newspaper could meet the new, larger tasks facing the LdU movement; a political movement without a daily newspaper was "not viable in our country in the long term". Even as a daily newspaper, Die Tat continued its strict rejection of National Socialism. It was banned in Germany and Hungary just two months after its launch, and a further two months later in Italy.Jaeckle (1989). Erinnerungen an «Die Tat». p. 93.
Original editorial team and contributors During the Second World War, the newspaper's editorial staff included specialists in foreign affairs, domestic politics, economics, literature, the arts, and military affairs.
From 1939 to 1943, the newspaper was led by literary critic Max Rychner as editor in charge. In 1943, the title was changed to editor-in-chief, a position held by journalist Erwin Jaeckle until 1971 and by Walter Biel until 1977. Jaeckle also headed Literarische Tat from 1962 onward.
The first editorial teamRychner, Max (October 2, 1964). Turbulente, aber schöne Zeit. In: Jubiläumsausgabe 25 Jahre «Tat». p. 2. included Rychner in the feuilleton section, although military service kept him largely abroad until 1943. Foreign affairs coverage was overseen by journalist Herbert von Moos, formerly of Schweizer Zeitung and Schweizerische Republikanische Blätter, who also became known through his political commentary broadcasts on Radio Beromünster.Zürcher, Christoph. Moos, Herbert. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Because of his anti-Nazi stance, von Moos came under pressure from the German legation and Federal Councillor Marcel Pilet-Golaz. He was formally dismissed from Radio Beromünster for "negligence"Schröder, Christian (1991). Politik im schweizerischen Rundfunk bis 1947. Dissertation at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster. p. 98. and resigned from the newspaper in December 1940 for stated "health reasons".
Domestic affairs editor Felix Moeschlin, president of the Swiss Writers' Association, remained with the newspaper until 1942, after which he became president of its editorial commission. Local affairs editor Karl Gnädinger, who wrote under the pseudonym "Nepomuk", remained with the paper until his accidental death in 1943. Economist Charles La Roche oversaw economic coverage until 1940, when he was replaced by Hans Munz.Rychner, Max (October 2, 1964). Turbulente, aber schöne Zeit. In: Jubiläumsausgabe 25 Jahre «Tat». p. 2.
Permanent contributors included Jean Rudolf von Salis on foreign affairs; Ernest Grosselin on military topics;de Weck, Hervé. Grosselin, Ernest. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. journalist Paul Gentizon, formerly a correspondent for Le Temps and the Gazette de Lausanne;Cantini, Claude. Gentizon, Paul. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. writer and theatre critic Bernhard Diebold; music critic Robert Oboussier;Puskás, Regula. Oboussier, Robert. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. and , editor of the architecture and art magazine Das Werk.Medici-Mall, Katharina. Meyer, Peter. In: Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz.
Wartime expansion and editorial reforms At the end of 1941, the Tat editorial office, administration and print shop moved into new premises on Limmatstrasse in the Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund (MGB), which was founded the same year. In 1943, the new editor-in-chief Erwin Jaeckle introduced various changes. He abolished the Bernese and Basel local sections and integrated them into the general section, which enabled him to appoint the Bernese editor as the editor for the Federal Parliament and the Basel editor as the foreign editor. This in turn allowed Max Rychner to return from the foreign section to his traditional feature section. Jaeckle also introduced a women's page, was the first Swiss newspaper to regularly publish excerpts from the world press and launched the first radio page in the Swiss press in 1944.Jaeckle (1989). Erinnerungen an «Die Tat». p. 35. A special feature of the Tat from the very beginning was the daily topical picture page with an average of eight pictures on the last page of the main paper. From July 31, 1943, the newspaper was published with a new typeface, the titles in Antiqua instead of sans-serif and with black negative bars as column headers in the political section.Jaeckle (1989). Erinnerungen an «Die Tat». p. 21. From March 12, 1944, Tat was also published on Sundays again and thus from then on seven times a week.Der «Tat»-Lebenslauf. In: Die Tat. November 1, 1945. p. 13. In December 1952, the editorial and administrative offices moved to Limmatplatz, where the Migros headquarters are also located.
Erwin Jaeckle and editorial direction The outstanding figure of the daily newspaper Die Tat was Erwin Jaeckle, who was also politically active (1942–1950 in the Zurich municipal council, 1945 president, 1947–1962 in the National Council for the Alliance of Independents). Duttweiler had initially intended him to be editor-in-chief, but Jaeckle wanted to work on his habilitation and suggested Max Rychner instead, a colleague of his at the feuilleton Der Bund at the time.Jaeckle (1979). Niemandsland der Dreissigerjahre. p. 240 In the end, however, he chose a career in journalism instead of academia and joined the paper on January 1, 1943. He wanted to be hired as domestic editor and not as Rychner's superior out of respect for Max Rychner, who was 12 years his senior and had experience in the press, and he demanded that the editorial office not report directly to Duttweiler, but to a works commission that would act as an intermediary between the editorial office and Duttweiler. This is what happened.Jaeckle (1989). Erinnerungen an «Die Tat». p. 12 f. However, after he had made various suggestions for improvement, the works commission urged him to become the first nominal editor-in-chief after all, and Jaeckle agreed after some deliberation. Under his leadership, Die Tat gained a great reputation as a daily newspaper that extended beyond the borders of Switzerland, particularly through the weekend supplement Literarische Tat (until the end of 1960 "Kunst - Literatur - Forschung"), which was supervised by Max Rychner and later by Erwin Jaeckle himself.