Gerrit Mitter was born in Bamberg in 1947. His first experience of the world of journalism was in Bonn, where he had been a student and was working for a Member of the Bundestag. He later worked as a tour guide in Paris, Majorca and Inzell (Bavaria) and became a freelance journalist for several major newspaper publishers including Mittelrhein-Verlag and Dumont-Schauberg. In 1991 Mitter took up a post as editor with Krupp publishers in Sinzig, building up the new "Kreisstadtecho" newspaper in the Ahr valley but also continuing to freelance for various specialist publishers and the Bonn "General-Anzeiger". Apart from this two-year period, Gerrit Mitter has been an independent, freelance journalist throughout his career.
Mitter's motto - "to write intelligibly and to pursue the truth, always with the reader in mind" - has been invaluable in maintaining his success in the competitive world of journalism over the decades. Today Gerrit Mitter also offers an expert press relations service for businesses from his press office in Bad Neuenahr. He cites the landscape and local people as his main influences and particularly enjoys hunting in the Eifel forests with his five-year-old dachshund, Timo, at his side. Gerrit Mitter spends most of his holidays at spa resorts in Germany.
This may very well have been the perfect preparation for writing a prizewinning article. Rainer Mertel, Chairman of the Royal Spas of Europe, explained that the jury was honouring Gerrit Mitter with the Royal Spas Award 2008 for the "concise, factual, reader-oriented style" of his article in "Gour-med" magazine. Mertel continued: "Every Royal Spa has aristocratic associations and a history of welcoming royal visitors, but grand credentials are not the only requirement for members of this select club of wellness providers. There is also a strict catalogue of rules specifying the criteria against which each Royal Spa has to be assessed. These include health and fitness facilities with state-of-the-art equipment, an elegant ambience, faultless service, sophisticated thermal facilities, a programme of treatments based on local therapeutic resources and, naturally, impeccably trained staff."
But even the Royal Spas are aware that exceptional quality counts for nothing if people don't get to hear about it - which is why they are indebted to knowledgeable journalists whose high-standard reporting is an invaluable communication tool. In order to encourage excellence in press coverage, journalists are often shown behind the scenes at the Royal Spas. Since 2003 their work has also been recognised through the Royal Spas Award.
This year's prize will be presented by Princess Heide von Hohenzollern at the annual Royal Spas press conference on 6 March 2008 at the ITB in Berlin.
Further details about the Royal Spas Award 2009 and application forms are available from the
Royal Spas of Europe Press Office
Kurgartenstrasse 1, 53474 Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)2641 801 219
Email: press@royal-spas.net
Or via the website www.press.royal-spas.net
Further information:
www.royal-spas.net
Kurgartenstr. 1
D-53474 Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler
Tel. : +49 (0) 26 41 - 801-153
Fax : +49 (0) 26 41 - 801-198
e-mail: press@royal-spas.net
http://www.press.royal-spas.net