Otto Müller

After graduating from high school in Karlsruhe in 1920, Otto Müller began training as a banker and studied economics in Heidelberg at the same time. In 1924, he received an offer from Graz to become commercial manager of the Paulus printing and publishing house. In 1927, he moved to the Heinrich Stiasny's Söhne printing and publishing house as director and advertising manager. In 1930, he took over the management of the Anton Pustet publishing house in Salzburg on behalf of the Styria publishing house in Graz and expanded its publishing program in conjunction with the "Salzburger Hochschulwochen" into an important cultural institute. In 1937, he founded his own Otto Müller publishing house; for licensing reasons, the publishing house was initially based in Innsbruck, but the place of work was Salzburg.

"Confidence and enthusiasm were initially greater than the necessary basis according to popular opinion - in this case, the capital." Otto Müller used the name he had made for himself as head of the Pustet publishing house as a guarantee, and the trust of well-known authors, personalities and production companies enabled the new publishing house to be established quickly. The beautiful, well-kept design of the books in print and binding, which Otto Müller created as a passionate manufacturer, contributed greatly to the good reception. His publishing program, ranging from "beautiful literature" - such as the works of Georg Trakl, Paul Claudel or Elisabeth Langgässer - to the humanities and theological works of Hans Urs von Balthasar, formed an increasing counterweight to the National Socialist ideas of Alfred Rosenberg (1892-1946).

After the Anschluss, Otto Müller was initially able to continue his publishing program, but he was increasingly targeted by the Nazi authorities. In response to the intensified defamation of the National Socialist literary critic Will Vesper (1882-1962), who described various publications as "poison against National Socialism", various titles were banned and Otto Müller himself was arrested by the Gestapo in December 1939 "for dealing in banned publications". The protective custody order issued by Reinhard Heydrich (1904-1942) stated, among other things:

"The arrest was made because he had sent out the banned publications of the dissolved 'Seraphinisches Liebeswerk'. His conduct is likely to shake the public's confidence in the orders of the state and, in view of his political views, gives rise to fears that he will continue his activities in freedom."

On July 31, 1940, he is released on the condition that he liquidate Otto Müller Verlag and cease further publishing activities. He refused this request and lodged an unsuccessful protest with the Reich Ministry of Propaganda. As a result, he is arrested again and expelled from the Reichsschrifttumskammer "as unworthy", and a few months later he is permanently banned from his profession. He circumvented the renewed ultimatum to liquidate the publishing house within three months by selling it - approved by the Reichsschrifttumskammer on May 13, 1941 - to the Berlin publisher Lambert Schneider; the publishing house then continued to trade as "Otto Müller Verlag, Berlin - Inhaber Lambert Schneider".