Sabine Sass Rudolf Sass 1929-2009

It was Manfred Eisenbeis who drew Dolf Sass’s attention to the HfG. He and Sass worked at a publishing house in Kiel, where Dolf Sass learned journalism. When the Kiel publishing house was sold to Gruner+Jahr, Dolf Sass moved to Burda in Offenburg. Later, he spent two years working at American advertising agencies in Munich and Hamburg. There he received a letter from Manfred Eisenbeis: "The Ulm School of Design is being set up. This is exactly what we have always dreamed of. Enrol there immediately, as I have already done."

I think it was unique in Germany at the time for a School of Design to also offer the subject of Information. Here, students were to be trained for the press, radio, television, and film. They were to learn and master the problems, methods, and techniques of various mass media. The Ulm designers also wanted to avoid the mistakes of the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau, namely not being understood by the public with their work.

Which subjects were important to Dolf Sass? Since I – Sabine Sass – lived as a student’s wife in one of the studios on the Oberer Kuhberg from 1960, had friends among the students and lecturers, and participated in countless events and discussions, I can say: all subjects were important to him. Particularly the basic course with its broad spectrum of knowledge and experiences. Gert Kalow taught all techniques of writing, in terms of form and content, in an inspiring way. In his department, essays, columns, critiques, and radio plays were created. The group project “Die Party” (The Party) was even broadcast.

A special relationship developed during this study period with Inge Aicher-Scholl and Otl Aicher. For the Ulm Adult Education Centre (vh) led by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Sass wrote contemporary, critical texts to accompany photographs by Sissi Maldonado and Tomás Gonda; he also produced articles for a trade union newspaper, characterised by strong societal and social engagement. During this time, he also completed an internship with "Kulturelles Wort" [cultural word] at WDR in Cologne [West German Broadcasting].

Unterricht — Jürgen Freuer, Fred Weidmann and Dolf Sass in the Information Department, 1958

After finishing his studies at the HfG – Sass left without graduating – he joined Harry Pross at the Bremen Broadcasting Service. Pross had been one of his lecturers in Ulm and, since 1963, had been the editor-in-chief in Bremen.

By then, Otl Aicher had established Rotis [a small hamlet in rural southern Germany where Aicher set up his domicile and design studio in the 1970s]. He wanted Sass to return to Ulm/Rotis to work with him. At the same time, Eberhard Ebner – a friend of the HfG – was looking for someone to help him design a new design for the newspaper he had inherited. It was a very complex task, long before other German regional newspapers began redesigning their appearances. Nick Roericht served as the intermediary, and Dolf Sass gladly returned to Ulm for this fascinating challenge, not least to work once again in the orbit of the HfG and Otl Aicher.

Later, Sass remained an editor at this newspaper, the "Südwest Presse". Through Otl Aicher, Hans G. Conrad, and Hermann Roth, he became involved in a long-standing collaboration with Lufthansa. This work included producing texts for onboard publications and "Lufthansa’s Germany". Georg Rauch, a well-known illustrator of the time, supplemented the texts with socially critical caricatures. For two photography books by Otl Aicher – "Flugbild Deutschland" [Aerial Photograph Germany] and "Im Flug über Europa" (Flying over Europe) – Sass wrote the accompanying texts. He also worked on promotional films together with Tomás Gonda.

Otl Aicher once described Dolf Sass’ texts as "Trojan horses" that stood in unexpectedly critical contrast to the glossy images of Germany. These texts almost always questioned the status quo and demonstrated that Germans were indeed capable of self-criticism.

Dolf Sass had consciously experienced the Third Reich and the post-war period in universities, where the entire political landscape was dominated by former Nazis. The Ulm School, with the ethos of its founding members, its predominantly young lecturers, and its international student body, was a gift for him, a liberation – and that ten years before 1968.

Journalist pass, 1959.