Walter H. Pehle

Walter H. Pehle (1941–2021) was a German historian and publishing editor. He studied history, German studies, and philosophy in Cologne, Bonn, and Düsseldorf, and earned his doctorate under Wolfgang J. Mommsen with a dissertation on National Socialism in a provincial region. From 1976 to 2011, he was responsible for the history program at S. Fischer Verlag and Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag. In 1977, he founded the book series “Die Zeit des Nationalsozialismus” (“Black Series”), which he edited from 1988 onward. He also served as the responsible editor of the “Europäische Geschichte” series. Among other distinctions, Pehle received the Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt am Main (1997), the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2001 and 2007), and an honorary professorship in contemporary history at the University of Innsbruck in 2003.