Anna Ottendorfer
| Anna Ottendorfer | |
|---|---|
Ottendorfer circa 1865
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| Born |
Anna Behr February 13, 1815 Würzburg, Bavaria |
| Died | April 1, 1884 (aged 69) New York City, United States |
Anna Ottendorfer (13 February 1815 Würzburg, Bavaria - 1 April 1884 New York City) was an American journalist and philanthropist. She was associated with the development of the German-language New Yorker Staats-Zeitung into a major newspaper.
Ottendorfer was born the daughter of a poor man named Behr. She came to the United States in 1837, and remained for a year with her brother in Niagara County, New York.
In 1838, Ottendorfer married Jacob Uhl, a printer. In 1845, her husband purchased the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, an influential and growing tri-weekly German-language newspaper owned and edited by Gustav Adolph Neumann. Jacob Uhl's young wife helped him constantly, and, after a brief period, they were able to issue the publication daily. When, in 1852, Jacob Uhl died, leaving Anna Uhl with six children and a daily paper, she assumed the management of the paper. She declined several offers for the Staats-Zeitung, and, by her own energy and sagacity and the co-operation of Oswald Ottendorfer, who became editor in 1858 and who Anna married in 1859, made it one of the chief papers in the United States. By the 1870s, its circulation was comparable to English-language newspapers like the New York Tribune and the New York Times. Anna Ottendorfer took an active part in the management of the paper until almost the time of her death.
In 1879, the property of the company was changed into a stock company. At Anna Ottendorfer's suggestion, the employees were provided with a 10% dividend on their annual salary. Later this was increased to 15%.
Ottendorfer devoted much attention to charitable enterprises, her main interests being the welfare of women and children and German culture.
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