Rainer Zitelmann has been successful in many professional fields. He studied history and political science at Darmstadt Technical University and graduated with distinction in 1983. Zitelmann went on to receive his doctorate Summa Cum Laude (1986) from the internationally renowned historian Prof. Dr. Dr. K.O. Freiherr von Aretin. His first doctoral dissertation was published as Hitler: The Policies of Seduction.
Reviews from German and international daily newspapers and trade journals can be found at: Historiker Zitelmann

From 1987 to 1992, Zitelmann worked at the Central Institute for Social Science Research at the Free University of Berlin, where he served as academic assistant to the renowned political scientist Prof. Jürgen W. Falter.
After completing his doctoral dissertation, Rainer Zitelmann published and edited numerous historical monographs and anthologies, including The Nazi Elite, which was published by the New York University Press.

Zitelmann as Editor-in-Chief at Ullstein-Propyläen

In 1992/93, Rainer Zitelmann served as Editor-in-Chief at Ullstein-Propyläen, at that time the third-largest publishing house in Germany. Zitelmann was responsible for the publishing house’s entire catalog, although his main interest remained with political and contemporary history publications.

The titles published under Zitelmann sparked controversy across Germany. After many years of leftist hegemony in publishing, Zitelmann gave conservative authors a platform. The prolific and “politically incorrect” publications from the houses Ullstein and Propyläen incensed the political left. In an essay in Der Spiegel, the philosopher Jürgen Habermas lamented the contemporary history catalog published by the venerable Ullstein publishing house under Rainer Zitelmann. After switching to one of Germany’s major daily newspapers, Die Welt, Zitelmann signed a consultancy agreement with the Ullstein publishing group and initially remained responsible for the group’s contemporary history and political publications catalog.

Zitelmann as Head of Section at DIE WELT

In 1993 Rainer Zitelmann joined Die Welt, one of Germany’s major daily newspapers, where he initially headed the arts and culture section, Geistige Welt, and later served as head of the contemporary history section. Finally he established and expanded Die Welt’s real estate section, which he headed until his departure in 2000. Under his leadership, Die Welt became the first European daily newspaper to publish a daily real estate section.

During this time, Zitelmann was politically active in Germany’s liberal FDP party, of which he has been a member for 25 years. He was regarded as a representative of the national liberal movement in the tradition of FDP founder Thomas Dehler.
Zitelmann was invited by the FDP parliamentary group to speak at the 100th birthday of the party’s founder, Thomas Dehler, about whom he had also published. The leading FDP politician, Hermann Otto Solms, wrote the preface to Zitelmann’s autobiography, which was published in 2016.

Zitelmann as Founder of Dr. ZitelmannPB.GmbH

In 1998, Rainer Zitelmann launched the Berlin Real Estate Roundtable, a discussion group for the leading lights of the German real estate industry. He has since organized more than 360 seminars and conferences – and not just in Berlin, but also in Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf.

In 2000, Rainer Zitelmann set up his own company, Dr. ZitelmannPB. GmbH. He remained Managing Director until 2016, having established the company as the undisputed public relation consultancy market leader in the German real estate industry. In February 2016, he sold 100% of the company to the senior manager, Holger Friedrichs, who was head of the company’s public relations department. Since selling the business, Zitelmann has continued to support the company (today: PB3C GmbH) as a consultant, as well as working for two leading real estate companies in Berlin.

Rainer Zitelmann is regarded as one of the leading real estate experts in Germany. From 2000 to 2016, he published the weekly Immobilien News der Woche, which was also published in English as German Real Estate News. Zitelmann was himself a very successful real estate investor. Between 1999 and 2004, when a majority of investors dismissed residential real estate in Berlin as unattractive, he bought apartment buildings in the German capital. He sold a number of his properties in 2015/2016, thereby capitalizing on the phenomenal price rises on Berlin’s residential real estate market.

Zitelmann as Author and Blogger

In 2011, Zitelmann returned to his calling as a writer and has since published numerous books. His work Dare to be Different and Grow Rich has so far been translated into eight languages. Translations of his books Reich werden und bleiben and The Wealth Elite have been published in China. In 2017, his book Kapitalismus ist nicht das Problem, sondern die Lösung (Capitalism is not the Problem, but the Solution) was also published.

Since 2007, Rainer Zitelmann has written on a variety of finance, economic and political topics on his blog, Zitelmann’s Finance Blog. He also writes regular columns in The European and on wallstreet-online. In these columns, Zitelmann represents a resolutely market-economy position.

Zitelmann’s Second Doctorate – in Sociology

In the winter semester 2016/2017, Rainer Zitelmann was awarded his second doctorate, this time in sociology. The dissertation was mentored by the well-known wealth researcher Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Lauterbach, published under the title Psychologie der Superreichen. Das verborgene Wissen der Vermögenselite and awarded the academic distinction Magna Cum Laude.

You can find more detailed information on the life of Rainer Zitelmann here:
http://www.rainer-zitelmann.com/