Gerhard Fritz Oberschlick (born August 30, 1942 inIrschen) is anAustrianessayist. From 1985 to 1995 he was theeditor of the political and cultural magazineFORVM. Today he serves as theliterary executor ofGünther Anders.
After high school inKlagenfurt, Oberschlick studiedGerman literature,history of theatre andphilosophy at theUniversity Vienna. 1966/67 he edited the students paperen face and then served as an accounting clerk of three university institutes, as well as secretary of philosopher Erich Heintel. In 1969 he dissociated from the university because of Heintel's acceptance of thedeath penalty and theVietnam War. He joined the publishing house ofNEUES FORVM and organized a petition for a referendum to abolish the Austrian military,[1][2] that had been initiated byWilfried Daim andGünther Nenning. The referendum was never carried out, although it was registered in 1970 and Oberschlick had succeeded to procure the obligatory number of 30.000 supporters. The reasons for the withdrawal were that socialistBruno Kreisky had caught the momentum and won the 1970 elections with the slogan "Six months of military service is enough!" and thatNenning and other supporters were in fear to lose the vote and embarrass the cause. Nevertheless the failed attempt caused major upheaval and a scandal in the conservative circles of Austria - and it is today recalled as the major achievement of theMovement of 1968 in Austria.[3] At last the Anti-military referendum caused FORVM founderFriedrich Torberg to distance himself from the magazine with these words:The new FORVM is the magazine against which the old one was founded.[4]
Starting in 1971 Oberschlick organized a music festival withFriedrich Gulda inOssiach and two scientific symposia for the Kreisky government inVienna, created aHappening and worked as adramaturge for plays byIbsen andPirandello.
In 1975 he returned to FORVM as a publishing manager, 1982/83 he served as editor-in-chief and in 1986 he became the owner and editor of the magazine. During his editorship FORVM retained its high profile throughintellectual andsocial criticism, avidanti-fascism and its fight forhuman rights. Oberschlick became well known for his judicial controversies with right wingFPÖ politicians likeJörg Haider - mainly because of theirracism[5] or theirnostalgia for theNSDAP regime.[6] At theEuropean Court of Human Rights (ECHR) Oberschlick achieved several verdicts against theRepublic of Austria because of violation of thefreedom of speech, and this caused finally in 1995 a change of Austria'scriminal law.[7] Since then Austria's high courts are bound to all decisions of the ECHR,[8] therefore implementing human rights in the legal system of the country.
Since 1992 he has served as theliterary executor of philosopher and anti-nuclear activistGünther Anders. In June 1995 Oberschlick chaired theInternational Human Rights Tribunal. His co-chair was environmental activistFreda Meissner-Blau, and human rights activistChristian Michelides served as theattorney general. The tribunal was dedicated to the persecution of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender persons in Austria during the period from 1945 to 1995.[9] As a consequence of this endeavour and other efforts all discriminating laws againstLGBT-persons in Austria have been abolished between 1996 and 2005.
At the end of 1995 Oberschlick had to close down FORVM due to lack of financial means. Since 2000 he has edited a modest internet issue of the former magazine.
In 2022, together with Meral Şimşek, he received the Theodor Kramer Prize for Writing in Resistance and Exile.[10]
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