Fritz Gunter Sachs[1] colloquially Gunter Sachs (14 November 1932 – 7 May 2011) also Gunter Sachs von Opel was a German-born Swiss industrial heir, socialite, art collector, photographer and author.[2]
His mother was Eleanor, the daughter of Wilhelm von Opel, co-founder of the automaker Opel; his father was Willy Sachs, sole owner of Fichtel & Sachs, a leading manufacturer of ball bearings in Schweinfurt and one of Germany's biggest automobile suppliers.[7] Willy was friendly with Hermann Göring and Heinrich Himmler[8][9] and arrested by the American military after the war but finally declared a follower and released. Gunter Sachs commented on his father's past in several publications.[10] Willy committed suicide in 1958 by shooting himself.[11]
During his early years as a playboy[11] he was romantically linked to the former Iranian empress Soraya Esfandiary. In 1956, Sachs married firstly to Anne-Marie Faure (1934–1958), originally from Paris, France, who died shortly after the marriage from anesthesia failure after a car crash.[13][14] They had one son together;
After the death of his first wife, Sachs courted Brigitte Bardot, by flying over her villa on the French Riviera in a helicopter and dropping hundreds of roses. On 14 July 1966 they were married in Las Vegas. They divorced in 1969 without issue.[13]
In addition to his German nationality, Sachs received Swiss citizenship in 1976.[11] Sachs died by suicide on 7 May 2011 by a gunshot wound to the head[18][19] at his home in Gstaad, Switzerland. The suicide note stated that he acted because of what he defined as "hopeless illness A." (which some have speculated to be Alzheimer's[20]) adding that "The loss of mental control over my life was an undignified condition, which I decided to counter decisively".[13]
In 1972 Sachs opened a gallery in Hamburg and organised the first European exhibition of his friend Warhol. In 1974, he commissioned Warhol with a series of silkscreen portraits of his ex-wife Brigitte Bardot.[23] In May 2006, Sachs sold one of Warhol's silk screens of Bardot at auction for $3 million.[24] The Sachs family sold part of his collection of Pop Art and Nouveau Realisme through Sotheby's in May 2012.
Photographer
Gunter Sachs (1978)
From 1972 Sachs worked as a professional photographer. In 1973 he caused a stir with the first nude photograph for French Vogue. In 1991 he worked with Claudia Schiffer on the "Heroines" series. He gained international recognition in 1974 with a special show at the photokina trade show for which he also designed the official exhibition poster. In 1976 he was awarded the Leica Award. At the 'German photo days' and the photokina he received prizes for "Die Farbe Weiss" in 1994 and for "Die Farbe Rot" in 1995.[citation needed]
The focus of his photography are surreal nudes and landscapes, which were published in no less than seven image volumes. Early on, Sachs also experimented with digital photography. The proceeds from the sale of his photographs and illustrated books went into the Mirja Sachs Foundation, which helps children in need.[25][citation needed]
Astrological research
Sachs' methodology and the statistical analysis have been criticised by mathematicians. They found serious errors in all parts and deny any statistical significance after the necessary corrections in his data.[26]
Literature
Sachs, Gunter: The Astrology File: Scientific Proof of the Link Between Star Signs and Human Behaviour. Orion Books (December 1999). ISBN0-7528-1789-2
Elwell, Dennis: Cosmic Loom, 2nd edition 1999. The Urania Trust. ISBN0-04-133027-7. Discussion and interpretation of some of Gunter Sachs results and related material.
