of the documented anti-Semitic proposals. After his release in October 1947, Meissner worked as a freelance journalist and writer. Until 1991, he published numerous travelogues, novels and biographies of great explorers, as well as his own autobiographical writings and works on recent contemporary history. His books have been translated into numerous languages, such as Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Slovenian and Spanish. He publicly appeared as President of the "Deutsches Institut für Lebensformen", a post to which he was elected to on 28 June 1953 in Bad Pyrmont at the founding congress of the Society for Merits for the Revival of Cultivated Manners". In spite of occasional criticism because of his past as a Nazi diplomat, Meissner received numerous honours. In 1986 he was awarded Grand Cross of Merit, at the suggestion of Franz Josef Strauß. He died 8 September 1992 in Unterwössen, Germany. Personal life On 22 September 1937, Meissner married Estelle Dittenberger. They had a daughter, Andrea Meissner (born 1 March 1943). In 1956, Meissner married the writer Marianne Mertens. Books His works may be divided into three categories: 1. Political-historical books, e.g., The Seizure of Power on 30 January 1933 2. Travelogues, describing journeys Meissner himself took, e.g., Enchanting Wilderness: Hiking, Hunting, Flying in Alaska 3. Books concerning the lives of discoverers and explorers, e.g., The Congo Surrenders Its Secret References External links 1909 births 1992 deaths Alsatian-German people Writers from Strasbourg People from Alsace-Lorraine Heidelberg University alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German male writers Nazi Party members SS officers