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Title: Robert H. Lochner Papers
Dates: 1933-2003
Collection number: 2007C33
Creator:
Lochner, Robert H., 1918-
Collection Size:
5 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(2.2 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Printed matter and photographs, relating to American radio broadcasting to Germany.
Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
German
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], Robert H. Lochner Papers, [Box no.], Hoover Institution
Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 2007.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
| 1918 | Born, New York |
| 1923 | Family moves to Berlin when father, Louis P. Lochner, is appointed bureau chief of Associated Press |
| 1936 | Assists father in coverage of Olympic games, then leaves Berlin to begin studies at University of Chicago |
| 1940 | Bachelor's degree, political science, University of Chicago |
| 1941 | Master's degree, economics, University of Chicago |
| 1941-1945 | Worked on German broadcasts over short-wave service, NBC radio, New York |
| 1945 Summer | Conducted studies for U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey, Germany, on effects of bombing on civilian morale |
| 1945-1947 | Director of news broadcasting for radio in the U.S. occupied zone of Germany, based in Bad Nauheim |
| 1945-1955 | Translator and interpreter for Military Governor Lucius D. Clay and High Commissioner John J. McCloy |
| 1947-1949 | Chief control officer for Radio Frankfurt |
| 1949-1952 | Editor in chief, Neue Zeitung, Frankfurt |
| 1952-1955 | Head of the press office of the American High Commission, Bonn |
| 1954 | Translator for former President Herbert Hoover on his visit to Germany |
| 1955-1957 | Head of the Information Division, U.S. Embassy, Saigon |
| 1958-1961 | Head of the European Division, Voice of America, Washington |
| 1961 | Translator for Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson during his visit to Berlin, after construction of the Berlin Wall |
| 1961-1968 | Director, RIAS (Radio in the American Sector), Berlin |
| 1963 | Translator for President John F. Kennedy during his visit to Berlin |
| 1968-1971 | Press and cultural attaché, American Embassy, Berne |
| 1971-1996 | Director, International Institute of Journalism, Berlin |
| 1972-1989 | Correspondent in Berlin for American Broadcasting Company (ABC), and Swiss News Agency |
| 1972-1991 | Berlin representative, American Chamber of Commerce in Germany |
| 2003 | Died, Berlin |
Scope and Content of Collection
The Robert H. Lochner papers consist largely of photographs that Lochner saved over the years, documenting his many
activities as part of the U.S. occupation forces in Germany following World War II, as translator to several high-ranking
U.S. officials and dignitaries who visited Germany during the 1940s through the 1960s, and as head of the RIAS broadcast
service, based in West Berlin, during the 1960s. Lochner was credited with preparing John F. Kennedy for his June 1963
trip to Germany, and at the president's request, coached him in several German phrases, including
"Ich bin ein Berliner." Photos of this trip are included in this collection. Many of these photos were also used in
his 2003 memoir, Ein Berliner unter dem Sternenbanner [A Berliner under the Stars and Stripes].
Organized into two series, Biographical File and Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Radio broadcasting--Germany.
Rundfunk im Amerikanischen Sektor (Berlin, Germany)
Related collections include the papers of his father, Pulitzer Prize-winning correspondent Louis Paul Lochner,
which are located in several collections at the Wisconsin Historical Society Archives in Madison, the Milwaukee
Public Library, and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. A further collection, the Louis P. Lochner family
papers, is housed at the Concordia Historical Institute (Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod) in St. Louis. At the Hoover
Institution Archives, a further group of documents collected by Louis P. Lochner in Germany during and following World
War II is available as the Louis Paul Lochner collection.