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Print media and publishers

The diversity of Berlin's book and print media market is unique in Germany. Small, innovative publishing houses operate alongside international scientific and trade publishers in Germany's capital.

Roughly 10,000 publications annually and about 160 book and 260 periodical publishers make Berlin the major publishing center in Germany. Axel Springer AG, a key media corporation in Europe and the largest German newspaper publisher, has its headquarters in Berlin. Springer Nature, Ullstein, Cornelsen, Suhrkamp, Walter de Gruyter, Egmont Ehapa and Hansa Verlag are also based in Berlin. All together, the regional books and periodicals sector encompasses over 3,900 companies with around 18,000 employees.

Moreover, Berlin is the capital of bookstores and authors, with about 250 bookstores and 60 percent of the P.E.N. members living in Berlin. Major industry associations like the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers (Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger e. V. - BDVZ), the Association of German Magazine Publishers (Verband Deutscher Zeitschriftenverleger - VDZ) and the Federal Press Conference (Bundespressekonferenz) are also based in Berlin.

The diversity of the publishing landscape in the capital region is unique within Germany:

  • 13 daily newspapers
  • 9 weekly newspapers
  • 3 Sunday editions
  • 15 alternative weekly or local arts and events papers
  • 79 advertising journals
  • Numerous national general interest and specialty periodicals

As the metropolis in Germany in which the widest variety of magazines on lifestyle, arts and culture is published, the city is an ideal test market for new formats.  Internationally renowned publishers of scientific and trade literature as well as non-fiction are also based in Berlin.

With about 370 printing facilities, Berlin is one of the four major German printing industry hubs next to Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main and Munich. Among the largest printing facilities in Berlin are the Bundesdruckerei GmbH, Axel Springer AG Druckhaus Spandau and BVZ Berliner Zeitungsdruck GmbH.

Newspaper and magazine publishers

In no other German or European region are so many daily and weekly newspapers published as in Berlin. The largest regional newspaper publishers include:

Axel Springer AG
B.Z., B.Z. am Sonntag, Bild and Bild am Sonntag, Berliner Morgenpost, Die Welt, Die Welt am Sonntag
www.axelspringer.de

Berliner Verlag GmbH
Berliner Kurier, Berliner Zeitung
berlinerverlag.com

Verlag Der Tagesspiegel GmbH
Tagesspiegel
www.tagesspiegel.de

TAZ Verlags- und Vertriebs GmbH
Die Tageszeitung taz
www.taz.de

Neues Deutschland Druckerei und Verlag GmbH
Neues Deutschland Berlin / Brandenburg
www.nd-online.de


As is the case in the book sector, scientific and trade publications dominate the periodicals publishing landscape in Berlin. About 70 periodicals publishers are based in Berlin. The following are some of the largest:

Axel Springer AG
Bild, Auto Bild, Sport Bild, Computer Bild, Rolling Stone
www.axelspringer.de

ZWEITE HAND Verlags-GmbH
030, Zweite Hand
www.zweitehand.de

SUPERillu Verlag GmbH & Co. KG
Super Illu, Guter Rat
www.super-illu.de

Stiftung Warentest
Test, Finanztest
www.test.de

Tip Berlin Media Group
Stadtmagazine tip Berlin und EXBERLINER
tipberlinmediagroup.de

DUMMY Verlag GmbH
DUMMY
www.dummy-magazin.de

Seitenstraßen-Verlag GmbH
Das Magazin
www.dasmagazin.de

Numerous publishers of scientific books (Springer Nature, Walter de Gruyter Verlag, Duncker & Humblot GmbH) also publish trade journals.

The smaller, specialized journal and magazine publishers include:

DE:BUG Verlags GmbH
Zeitschrift für elektronische Musik
re-bug.de/?work=debug

Lettre International Verlags-GmbH
Lettre International
www.lettre.de

Verlag 8.Mai GmbH
melodie & rhythmus
www.melodieundrhythmus.com

H&B Publishing GmbH
sleek
www.sleek-mag.com

Book publishers

Book publishers form the most important sector of the industry in the capital region; around 11 percent of all books put out in Germany are published here.

Scientific, trade and non-fiction books dominate the book publishing landscape in Berlin, in other words a segment of the market that generally remains unaffected by cyclical economic trends. Some of the key publishers are:

Major publishers of fiction in Berlin include:

A number of small independent publishers also distinguish Berlin as a publishing center.  These are:

Nearly all of the major fiction publishers, including Eichborn, Fischer and Hanser Verlag, also maintain offices in Berlin.

Comics and online

As Germany's comics capital, Berlin is home to the following comics publishers:

In addition to the online offerings of traditional media outlets, a number of small initiatives offer a broad array of cultural portals.

Berlin: europe's newspaper capital

Ten daily newspapers are based in Berlin, more than in any other European region (Berliner Kurier, Berliner Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, Bild, B.Z., Neues Deutschland, Tagesspiegel, taz, Die Welt). In addition, numerous scientific and specialty magazines are published in Berlin.

Worldwide demand for news from Berlin

News from the German capital is in demand worldwide: over 40 major German and international news agencies have offices in the German capital, including Reuters, dpa, AFP and ANSA.

Over 60 national and international television broadcasters, 94 regional daily papers and 20 national or international newspapers and magazines including DER SPIEGEL, Stern and DIE ZEIT maintain correspondents in Berlin or have a bureau there.

Around 2,000 journalists are accredited with the Federal Press Conference (Bundespressekonferenz).

(Sources: Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises; the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers; Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH)

© Berlin Partner

Publishers and book trade in Berlin

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Industry Map