Mathias Döpfner beat the Mail to seize a British institution. But whether he will be a sobering or malign influence is not yet clear Mathias Döpfner beat the Mail to seize a British institution. But whether he will be a sobering or malign influence is not yet clear A fter fighting off one foreign takeover, staff at the paper that broke the news of the second world war might have been expected to react badly when meeting their potential new German owners on Monday. Instead, journalists at the