Updated 15th July 2015 14:21 Clock

The longstanding Suhrkamp co-owner Hans Barlach (Picture in September 2013)

The longstanding Suhrkamp co-owner Hans Barlach (Picture in September 2013) | dpa

The long-standing Suhrkamp partner Hans Barlach © Andreas Arnold / died with 59 years of pneumonia. This was announced by his family in Berlin. The Hamburg-based media entrepreneur, a grandson of the sculptor Ernst Barlach, had come as a co-owner of the Suhrkamp publishing house for years in a bitter dispute with publisher Ulla Unseld-Berkéwicz boss. In 2013, he had lost the power struggle. The traditional house has therefore been converted into a public limited company in January 2014.

Hans Barlach was born in 1955 in Ratzeburg. He managed – by training as a chemical engineering assistant – first the estate of his grandfather Ernst Barlach. From 1982 onwards he ran his first gallery in Hamburg

In 2006, he had gone against the will of Unseld-Berkéwicz in the publishing -. He took over the shares of a former silent partner from Switzerland. The publisher boss, widow of the former company patriarch Siegfried Unseld, spoke of a “hostile takeover”. She left promptly examine the legality of participation. Barlach threw Unseld-Berkéwicz in return inability ago – a year long dispute followed by all instances.

It was not until the end of last year, the Federal Constitutional Court ended the dispute: The Chief Justice allowed the target of Unseld-Berkéwicz transformation of the traditional house into a corporation. With this success, launched by insolvency proceedings, Barlach was largely powerless and lost important participation rights.