Journalism in Germany

Medieval Germany has been considered the birthplace of western printing and newspapers. However, news were being circulated before in organised way, of course, through letters, handwritten news-sheets and word - of - mouth communication. Johann Gutenberg developed moveable type printing press in 1440s, and soon after that many German cities had their own printing presses.

It has been reported in various works that a number of broadsheets and pamphlets dealing with current events were being published by the 16th century. Those were used to publish only when there was something noteworthy to report.

A bundle of"Avis Relation Order Jeetung" and "Strasbury Relation" was found which were being published in 1609 at Osberg in Germany. The first regularly published newspapers appeared in German cities and in Antwerp around 1609. Before that, there had been occurring major changes until the end of the 16th century AD. There are mentions of sale of news pamphlets in the shops in West Germany and in some other European countries. Those pamphlets contained the news of battles, accidents, stories from the Royal court and other strange events including stories of human interests. The first daily newspaper appeared in Leipzig in 1650.

Censorship was endemic and hampered growth until well into 19th century. Magazines flourished, however. From only about 50 in 1700, their numbers increased steadily to over 1200 at the end of the 19th century. And despite the difficulties, newspapers also continued to appear in various centres, including several that were destined to survive and prosper. Among these was the world-famous Allgemeine Zeitung, whigh was founded by Johann Cotta in T'bingen in 1798 and lasted until killed off by the Hitler regime.

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