Rainer Zitelmann (GER)

Rainer Zitelmann (born 14 June 1957 in Frankfurt) is a German libertarian historian, author, management consultant and real estate expert.

Zitelmann studied history and political science at the Technical University of Darmstadt. He completed his doctorate in 1986 under Karl Otmar Freiherr von Aretin with the grade of summa cum laude the subject being the goals of Hitler's social, economic and interior policies.[1] Zitelmann's doctoral dissertation, Hitler: Selbstverständnis eines Revolutionärs went through four editions in Germany and was published in English under the title "Hitler: The Politics of Seduction" (London: London House, 2000).

Then, Zitelmann pursued a career in conservative print media. After his work as a research assistant at the Free University of Berlin, he became an editorial director for the publishing company Ullstein and Propyläen in 1992. Soon, he transferred to the German daily Die Welt as the head of desk for contemporary thought. Later, Zitelmann transferred to the desk for contemporary history and finally to the real estate desk.

In 2000, he founded Dr.ZitelmannPB. GmbH, which had many international companies among its clients, including CBRE, Ernst & Young Real Estate, Jamestown, Cordea Savills and NCC. Zitelmann was the managing director of Dr. ZitelmannPB. GmbH until the end of February 2016, when he sold the company in an MBO.

In 2016, he was awarded his second doctorate, this time in sociology (Dr. rer. pol) at the University of Potsdam. The subject of his second doctoral dissertation was the psychology of the super-rich. His dissertation was published in a variety of languages, including Chinese and Korean, as well as in English under the title The Wealth Elite.