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| Type | Daily newspaper (except Sundays) |
|---|---|
| Format | Rhenish (format) |
| Owner | Holger Friedrich [de] |
| Publisher | Berliner Verlag |
| Editor-in-chief | Tomasz Kurianowicz |
| Founded | 21 May 1945; 80 years ago (1945-05-21) |
| Language | German |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
| Circulation | 148,000 (2010) |
| ISSN | 0947-174X |
| Website | www |
TheBerliner Zeitung (German:[bɛʁˈliːnɐˈtsaɪtʊŋ];lit. 'Berlin Newspaper') is a daily newspaper based inBerlin, Germany. Founded inEast Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence sincereunification. It is published byBerliner Verlag.
Berliner Zeitung was first published on 21 May 1945 inEast Berlin as one of the first newspaper after World War II.[1] The paper, acenter-left daily, is published byBerliner Verlag. Initially, the newspaper served as the mouthpiece of the provisional Berlin city administration. After the founding of theSED, it became its organ, subject to close censorship.[2]
After the fall of theBerlin Wall and theGerman reunfication, the paper was still owned by SED. The journalists had tried to manage themselves during the years of reunification - the newspaper's owner, the SED, granted greater freedom under its new name PDS.[2]
Later the newspaper was bought byGruner + Jahr and theBritish publisherRobert Maxwell. Gruner + Jahr later became sole owners and relaunched it in 1997 with a completely new design. A stated goal was to turn theBerliner Zeitung into "Germany'sWashington Post". The daily says its journalists come "from east and west", and it styles itself as a "young, modern and dynamic" paper for the whole ofGermany. It is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence sincereunification.[3] In 2003, theBerliner was Berlin's largest subscription newspaper—the weekend edition sells approximately 207,800 copies, with a readership of 468,000. The current editor-in-chief isBrigitte Fehrle.
Gruner + Jahr decided to leave the newspaper business and sold theBerliner Zeitung in 2002 to the publishing groupGeorg von Holtzbrinck.[4] This sale was blocked by the German antitrust authorities since Holtzbrinck already owned another major Berlin newspaper,Der Tagesspiegel. TheBerliner Zeitung was then sold in the fall of 2005 for an estimated 150–180 million euros to the British companyMecom Group[5] and the American companyVeronis Suhler Stevenson. The employees criticized this sale vehemently, fearing that journalistic quality could suffer as a result of excessive profit expectations by Mecom bossDavid Montgomery.[citation needed]
TheBerliner Zeitung was the first German newspaper to fall under the control of foreign investors.[6]Andrew Marr, former editor ofThe Independent, which like theBerliner Zeitung was taken over by David Montgomery, said of theBerliner Zeitung that "[a]nyone who was working atThe Independent in the mid to late Nineties will find all this wearisomely familiar. David's obsession at that time was removing as much traditional reporting as possible from the paper and turning it into atabloid-stylescandal sheet foryuppies."[7]
On 23 March 2009, it was announced that the Berliner Verlag would be sold by Mecom to the publisherM. DuMont Schauberg (MDS) in Cologne. The price was about 152 million Euro. Mecom was forced to sell its publishing interests in Germany as well as Norway because of heavy debts.[8]
Holger Friedrich [de] and his wife Silke bought the Berliner Verlag in September 2019 from M. DuMont Schaumberg. This company published besideBerliner Zeitung alsoBerliner Kurier andBerliner Abendblatt.[9] Friedrich wrote in the first number after he boughtBerliner Zeitung, that their vision was to make politics and society more interesting again.[10]
According to their own statement, the company was to be transformed into a "technology-driven media house". This was followed by a redesign of the newspaper and website, a relaunch of the weekend edition, a short-lived English online edition, "open source" articles, and an editorial system that also facilitates mobile working for the editorial staff.[11]
Publisher Friedrich regularly and seriously interferes with editorial work, several employees said in 2025 todie tageszeitung. According to them, Friedrich participates in editorial meetings, requests certain articles, but blocks others, dictates headlines and headings, and complains directly and in a confrontational tone to the editor when articles don't suit him. In emails obtained by taz, Friedrich gives precise instructions on how to report on certain topics.[11]
In October 2024, theBerliner Zeitung entered into a cooperation agreement with state-ownedChina Media Group.[12]
Since Friedrich took over, the newspaper has been criticized for its stance towards Russia. On the anniversary ofRussia's annexation of Crimea, the Berliner Zeitung published a guest article by Sergei Yuryevich Nechayev, theRussian ambassador to Berlin. The diplomat, who wrote two guest articles and one guest commentary for the newspaper in 2021, looked back on the day of the "reunification of Crimea with Russia."[13] On the same day, the Ukrainian ambassador was also allowed to write about the topic.[13] Rene Martins of MDR considers the "Berliner Zeitung's" Russia reporting problematic not only because it considers the ambassador of an autocratically governed state to be a legitimate guest author, but also because the tone of some editorial articles is similarly official as in the texts of the Russian ambassador. The newspaper adopts representations and formulations from Russia's government spokesmanDmitri Peskov - the industry service "Meedia" spoke of "a conscious decision to engage in yard reporting."[13]
| May–July 1945 | OberstAlexander Kirsanow | |
| July 1945–May 1949 | Rudolf Herrnstadt | .jpg) |
| May–July 1949 | Gerhard Kegel |  |
| July–September 1949 | Georg Stibi |  |
| 1949–1955 | Günter Kertzscher | |
| 1955–1957 | Erich Henschke | |
| 1957–1961 | Theo Grandy | |
| 1961–1962 | Joachim Herrmann | |
| 1962–1965 | Joachim Herrmann |  |
| 1965–1972 | Rolf Lehnert | |
| 1972–1989 | Dieter Kerschek | |
| 1989–1996 | Hans Eggert | |
| 1996–1998 | Michael Maier | |
| 1999–2001 | Martin E. Süskind | |
| 2002–2006 | Uwe Vorkötter | |
| 2006–2009 | Josef Depenbrock | |
| 2009–2012 | Uwe Vorkötter | |
| 2012–2016 | Brigitte Fehrle [de] |  |
| 2016–2020 | Jochen Arntz | |
| 2020 | Matthias Thieme | |
| 2022 | Tomasz Kurianowicz |
Media related toBerliner Zeitung at Wikimedia Commons(in German)| International | |
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| Other | |