Axel Springer AG:

Axel Springer AG

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This article describes the Newspaper company "Axel Springer AG" started by Axel Springer in 1946/1947. For the academic publishing company started by Julius Springer in 1842, see Springer Science+Business Media.

Axel Springer AG
The Axel-Springer-Building in Hamburg, Germany.
Type	Public (Xetra: ))
Founded	1946/47 by Axel Springer
Headquarters	Berlin, Germany
Key people	Mathias Döpfner, Chief Executive Officer
Industry	Publishing
Products	magazines newspapers
Employees	10,000 (2006)
Website	axelspringer.com

Axel Springer AG is one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe, having over 150 newspapers and magazines in over 30 countries, including several Central and Eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and western European countries: Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, more than 10,000 employees with annual revenues and income on the scale of €1 billion. It was started in 1946/1947 by journalist Axel Springer ^[1]. Its current CEO is Mathias Döpfner.

1 Newspapers, magazines, products
2 Corporate principles
3 Attacks
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Newspapers, magazines, products

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (June 2008)

Die Welt, the intellectual flagship of the company
Bild, newspaper with the largest circulation in Europe
Auto Bild, automobile magazine with the largest circulation in Europe
Computer Bild, published in nine countries, is Europe's best-selling computer magazine
Sport Bild, published in many countries, is Europe's biggest sport magazine
Auto.cz, the biggest Czech internet car portal including RoadLook.tv, starting in Slovakia and Poland as well
Fakt, the biggest daily tabloid in Poland
Hamburger Abendblatt
Berliner Morgenpost
Hörzu
Dziennik, the intellectual flagship of the company in Poland

Corporate principles

The Axel Springer AG is criticized by German leftists and Muslims^[2] especially because it openly supports Israel. The Axel Springer AG is the only German publishing house which refused to publish the advertising campaign of the Left Party in 2005.^[3]

The five socio-political preambles that were written by Axel Springer in 1967, amended in 1990 following German reunification and supplemented in 2001 are part of the articles of association of Axel Springer AG. They paint a liberal picture of the world.

To uphold liberty and law in Germany, a country belonging to the Western family of nations, and to further the unification of Europe.

To promote reconciliation of Jews and Germans and support the vital rights of the State of Israel.

To support the Transatlantic Alliance, and solidarity with the United States of America in the common values of free nations.

To reject all forms of political extremism.

To uphold the principles of a free social market economy. The corporate constitution defines fundamental sociopolitical convictions but does not offer opinions.^[4]

Side view of the Axel Springer building in Berlin.

Major competitors in the German publishing market include Bauer Verlag, Bertelsmann, Hubert Burda Media and Holtzbrinck.

Attacks

In the 1960s and 1970s the company was target for a number left-wing groups. It was denounced by German-American writer Reinhard Lettau in an incendiary speech at the Freie Universität Berlin; in 1968 their Berlin headquarters was blockaded by students; in 1972 the Red Army Faction claimed responsibility from six bombs placed in the Hamburg building (only three exploded and 17 people were injured)[1]; and in 1975 a bomb exploded in their Paris office, the "6th of March Group" (connected to the Red Army Faction) claimed responsibility.

Axel Springer ran a major newspaper he founded in Germany that the Nazis shut down during the war. Springer never left Germany and was not sent to a concentration camp. After the war, he relaunched his publishing venture, turning it into Axel Springer AG, and became a major supporter of Israel.