Company History

In 1948 Georg von Holtzbrinck launched Die Stuttgarter Hausbuecherei together with a small publishing list and thus laid the foundation for a major book club.

From the late 1950s, this book club was called Deutscher Buecherbund. It remained the biggest company in the publishing group until the mid-1980s.

In the 1960s the Deutscher Buecherbund took over S. Fischer Verlag, one of Germany’s leading publishing companies. The acquisition of other publishing interests followed, including companies such as Rowohlt, Droemer and Kindler.

With the integration of Saarbruecker Zeitung and Handelsblatt in the years between 1969 and 1971 a new chapter in the company’s history began.

In 1971, Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH holding company was founded. Its responsibility is to oversee the strategic development of the publishing group, the involvement and development of entrepreneurial executives, and the advice and control of subsidiaries.

In 1980 Dieter von Holtzbrinck took over leadership, he extended the publishing activities in Germany and began to build an international business.

In the mid-1980s the group started its US business with the acquisition of Scientific American and Henry Holt publishers.

In 1989 the Deutscher Buecherbund was sold when it became clear that the book club concept would struggle in the face of market developments and the changing purchasing habits of customers.

During the mid 1990s, the acquisition of the international publishing group Macmillan opened up expansion into countries and marktes in Asia, Africa, Australia and Latin America.

In 2001 Dieter von Holtzbrinck transferred the management of the group into the hands of his brother, Stefan von Holtzbrinck, and headed the supervisory board of the company until 2006.

In 2006 Dieter von Holtzbrinck left the group and transferred his shares to a family-owned trust. Since then, Monika Schoeller, maiden name von Holtzbrinck, and Dr. Stefan von Holtzbrinck each own 50% of the group.

Today the four areas of general interest trade publishing, education and science, newspapers and magazines, and electronic media and services have become the foundations on which the long-term future of the publishing group is based.