Richard Katz was a German journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

, travel writer

Travel literature

Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...

, and essayist from Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

. While writing both grandiose and humble prose, his style is consistently imbued with a sense of humor, humility and love for all things living.

Early years

After graduation Katz studied law at The German University in Prague. During his studies, he wrote for a variety of newspapers and magazines. Upon graduation, he began work with the now defunct Vossische Zeitung

Vossische Zeitung

The Vossische Zeitung was the well known liberal German newspaper that was published in Berlin . Its predecessor was founded in 1704...

 newspaper in their Prague office. During this placement, he spent a year in East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

 working as a traveling reporter.

Career in Journalism

After the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, Katz moved to Leipzig

Leipzig

Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...

 and in 1924 he became director of the Leipzig Publishing Company, a position he held for two years. In the years between 1928 to 1930, he was a clerk for the Ullstein

Ullstein-Verlag

The Ullstein Verlag was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like B.Z. and Berliner Morgenpost and books through its subsidiaries Ullstein Buchverlage and Propyläen.The newspaper publishing branch was taken...

 publishing house in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. While working in this position, Katz founded the Green Post

Green Post

The Green Post was a German newspaper from the Ullstein publishing house. Operations began on 10 April 1927, the paper enjoying a quick rise in popularity in all social classes, reaching a circulation of over one million during its first year. Its founder was future travel writer and journalist...

, a periodical which very quickly reached a circulation of over one million. The financial success allowed Katz to establish himself as an independent writer, giving him the freedom to travel the world while writing of his experiences.

Travel and Publication

During the period between 1930 and his death, Katz published nearly thirty-five volumes, mostly personally written journalistic travel books. In the late twenties, his five-book series Die Weite Weite Welt (The Wide, Wide World) emerged, including Ein Bummel um die Welt, Funkelnder Ferner Osten, Heitere Tage mit braunen Menschen, Schnapps Kokain und Lamas, Ernte (name translations below). His other areas of interests were animals - specifically dogs - and gardening. Some of his most refreshing works center around the personalities of dogs, and the methods one must employ to be a successful gardener.

In 1933 Katz emigrated to Switzerland. In 1941, he moved to Brazil obtaining citizenship there. In 1956 he returned to Switzerland where he died in 1968 living above Locarno.

Works Translated into English

• Ein Bummel um die Welt (Loafing Around the Globe)
• Funkelnder Ferner Osten (Rays From the East)
• Einsames Leben (Solitary Life)

Untranslated German Travel Books

• Heitere Tage mit braunen Menschen (Pleasant Days with Brown Peoples)
• Zickzack durch Südamerika (Zig-Zagging Through South America)
• Ernte (Harvest)
• Die Weltreise in der Johannisnacht (The voyage round the world in the Johannisnacht)
• Mein Inselbuch - erste Erlebnisse in Brazilien (My Island Book - first experiences in Brazil)
• Seltsame Fahrten in Brazilian (Strange travels in Brazil)
• Reisefieber (Travel Fever)
• Begegnungen in Rio (Meetings in Rio)
• Auf dem Amazones (On the Amazon)
• Per Hills schwerster Fall - Ein ernthafter kriminalroman (Per Hill hardest case - a serious detective story)
• Allerhand aus fernem Land (A Great Deal from a Far Off Country)
• Wandernde Welt (Wandering World)
• Gruss aus der Hängematte (Greetings from the Hammock)
• Num. Heilen in Ekstase - Die faszinierende Welt der San im Südlichen Afrika (Num. Healing in Ecstasy - The Fascinating World of the San in Southern Africa)

Stories Regarding Domestic Matters

• Kleinode der Natur - (Nature's Jewels)
• Nur Tiere. Vier Geschichten - (Four Stories on Animals)
• Von Hund zu Hund - (From Dog to Dog)
• Übern Gartenhag - (On Gardening)
• Steckenpferde - (Hobbies)

Political Work

• Drei Gesichter Luzifers. Lärm, Maschinen, Geschäft (The Three Faces of Lucifer: Noise, Machines, Business)

Autobiographical Works

• Leid in der Stadt (Lost in the City)
• Einsames Leben (Solitary Life)

Literature

• Jeroen Dewulf: Brasilien mit Brüchen. Schweizer unter dem Kreuz des Südens, Zürich: NZZ Verlag 2007. ISBN 978-3-03823-349-7