Publishing Houses and Publishers

No other publisher has influenced the newspaper landscape in the Federal Republic of Germany as much as Axel Cäsar Springer. Springer-Verlag, which he founded in 1946, rapidly grew into the largest newspaper publisher in Europe under his leadership. And Axel Springer himself, who died in 1985, also became one of the most controversial public figures in Germany.

Today, almost 25 years since the death of its founder, the Axel Springer Verlag is still one of Europe’s largest publishers. The Berlin-based company publishes more than 180 newspapers and magazines all over Europe, and that doesn’t even include the online and TV media content. Its most important publications include Die Welt and the Bild, Germany’s first and biggest-selling tabloid newspaper (print circulation: almost four million). The political power that Axel Springer wielded in Germany from the end of the 50’s sprang largely from the influence of the Bild, which was first published in 1952.

Back then no-one could have predicted that the Springer-Verlag would become a political force in the young Federal Republic. Indeed, for a long time its founder certainly didn’t have politics on his mind. Axel Springer was born in 1912, the son of a publisher in Altona. If it had been up to him, he would have become an opera singer. The son of a well-off family, spoiled by his mother and with a commanding manner, he became the sunny boy of the Hamburg nightlife and society: parties, beautiful girls, fancy clothes and regular stays in Berlin and on the North Sea island Sylt took up all his time and attention. Politics didn’t interest the young dandy, who merely completed his training in journalism at the request of his father. Although he did not openly oppose it, he abhorred the Nazi regime, which came to power in Germany in 1933.

How it all began

The distance Axel Springer kept to the National Socialists during the third Reich was one reason why he quickly found his feet as a publisher after the war. The British occupation army, which also had control of Hamburg, was happy to grant publishing licenses to someone unencumbered by the past. In 1946 he and his father founded Axel Springer Verlag and in autumn 1948 the first edition of “Hamburger Abendblatt” was published. It already became evident in this new publication that Axel Springer had a feel for what the readers wanted: he produced a popular newspaper which almost cared more about the daily weather report than political events. Springer had recognised that three years after the end of the war, the Germans were tired of politics and were more interested in stories of day-to-day life than in dealing with their past. The evening paper quickly became one of the most important daily newspapers in North Germany. Springer Verlag’s commercial success came first and foremost from the magazines segment, with the TV guide Hörzu and the woman’s magazine Constanze keeping the money flowing in.

The arrival of the Bild newspaper

“If centuries later a historian was asked to reconstruct the most important domestic and global political events based solely on the first six decades of the Bild, he would barely be able to do so; for much of the time they weren’t even mentioned”, Hans Dieter Müller wrote about the Bild in his analysis of the Springer Verlag at the end of the 60’s. It is true that Springer also applied the concept of his evening paper to the Bild – and became even more convinced of this concept after an inspirational visit to England, the motherland of tabloid journalism. Springer more or less chose to leave out political news in the Bild. The ingredients of his recipe for success were non-political stories portrayed emotionally, comprehensibility for all, plenty of photos, big letters and the principle of always remembering the reader’s need for entertainment. Emotionalise instead of inform. Springer wanted one thing more than anything: good circulation. Over the years the hedonistic dandy had transformed into a workaholic who demanded 100% from his employees. He became obsessed with his ambition to publish the most popular paper in Germany with the highest circulation – and he quickly succeeded. In 1958 the Bild reached a daily circulation of 2.8 million.

The journey to Moscow

According to Springer biographer Hans-Peter Schwarz, that is when the politicisation of the Springer media began. The reasons for this development were two-fold; a daily newspaper that reaches several million readers every day has, ipso facto, power that no politician can deny; secondly, by then Springer had shed his political apathy. He watched with horror and disbelief as the division of Germany – the DDR being founded on 7 October 1949 – became a permanent feature. He deplored the policies of Konrad Adenauer, whose Western orientation and implacable stance towards the Soviet Union cemented this division. Springer wasn’t willing to accept this. The powerful publisher, who was by then also being noticed by politicians outside Germany, decided to get involved in politics himself. In January 1958 he travelled to Moscow to meet Nikita Khrushchev. A meeting with the Soviet head of government also took place. However, it didn’t go as Springer had imagined. Instead of meeting him as an equal partner, Khrushchev treated Springer like a journalist to whom he had granted an interview. Severely disappointed and humiliated, the German visitor departed. At home, where his venture had become known, he was received with scorn and derision. Springer then mobilized his entire empire to fight the communist regime in the DDR. From then on, whatever seemed politically important to him appeared on the front page of the Bild. The publisher even put this newfound political drive before the hitherto sacrosanct priority of profit maximisation.

Target of the 1968 student revolution

His political awakening, the main goal of which was to bring about the reunification of Germany within the foreseeable future, also resulted in Springer – whose newspaper empire was initially based in Hamburg – devoting his time and effort to the divided city of Berlin. Thus, in 1967, he relocated the company headquarters to Kochstraße in Berlin, which was right beside the Berlin wall. The politically motivated move had dramatic consequences. Springer had stumbled into a wasps’ nest: he became the most hated person of the 1968 students’ movement, which suspected the “publishing giant” of secretly pulling the strings of the “establishment” they so despised. Sure enough, at that time, 39 percent of newspapers sold in Germany and 18 percent of magazines were published by Springer.

The attacks on Springer reached a climax in April 1968 when a leader of the student movement, Rudi Dutschke, was shot. The Bild newspaper had previously called for the student leader to be ‘seized‘. Thousands of students gathered at the Springer tower block, which was being protected by several hundred police officers, to throw stones and burning torches. The next day attacks on Springer buildings took place all over Germany. The attacks were particularly violent in Munich, where a photographer and student died. In 1972 violence against the Springer group flared up again – two bombs exploded in the Hamburg branch and 17 members of staff were injured. In the next few years there were further attacks on Springer premises. Springer considered selling his publishing conglomerate, which had become a stock corporation in 1970, but decided instead to merely unload some titles in order to trim back his quasi-monopoly himself. In 1985, Springer, who until that point had been the only shareholder, sold almost half of the company shares on the stock exchange. He died the same year – on 22 September, at the age of 73. Since then the publishing group has been supervised by his fifth wife, Friede Springer.

Literature: Hans-Peter Schwarz, Axel Springer, Propyläen-Verlag, 2008, 743 pages Hans Dieter Müller: Der Springer-Konzern. Eine kritische Studie. P. Piper Verlag, Munich 1968