28.10.2024
180 years of Wochenblatt für Landwirtschaft und Landleben: Still indispensable
Contact
Gabriele Blömker
02501 801-1670
gabriele.bloemker@lv.de
One of the oldest magazines in North Rhine-Westphalia and flagship of Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster
The first issue of the ‘Wochenblatt für Landwirtschaft und Landleben’ is simply called ‘Landwirtschaftliche Zeitung’. The magazine has been published week after week since 1844. This is the message with which WDR begins its portrait of one of the oldest magazines in North Rhine-Westphalia. The paper was founded 180 years ago by the semi-state agricultural associations, in which mainly large agricultural businesses and representatives of agricultural institutions and authorities were organised. These associations were later merged into the Chamber of Agriculture. The weekly newspaper - now an institution - continues to appear and has been published by Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster since 1946. The current circulation is just under 53,000 issues (IVW, 3rd quarter 2024). There is also a comprehensive digital offering with e-paper, newsletters and social media offerings.
‘In the 180 years, there have always been changes and disruptions. The most difficult time was the years of National Socialism, when the Wochenblatt, like the entire press, was brought into line,’ says Gisbert Strotdrees, historian and editor of the Wochenblatt, looking back. Very soon after the war, the farmers realised that there had to be an independent weekly paper again. Farmers Franz Luster-Haggeney, Dr Ludwig Weddige and Hermann Sültemeyer therefore founded Landwirtschaftsverlag in 1946 and on 15 April of the same year were one of the first publishers in North Rhine-Westphalia to receive permission from the British military government to publish the ‘Landwirtschaftliches Wochenblatt für Westfalen und Lippe’.
It didn't stop there. ‘The weekly newspaper was and is the nucleus for the entire further development of the company. Today, Verlagsgruppe Landwirtschaftsverlag offers over 50 media and services. We are now involved along the entire food value chain, from primary agricultural production to food processing and trade to enjoyable food and drink and everything that revolves around rural life. We have long been active beyond the borders of Westphalia and are active throughout Germany, Poland and Austria,’ says Dr Ludger Schulze Pals, Managing Director of Landwirtschaftsverlag Münster, explaining the development. In addition to Wochenblatt, top agrar, Lebensmittel Praxis, Landlust and essen & trinken are other flagships of the publishing group.
What applies to the publisher also applies to the readership of the weekly newspaper. Over the past 180 years, it has become more diverse and broader. Today, active farmers of all ages, former farmers who want to stay informed and people who are interested in rural life all read the magazine, which is therefore rightly called ‘Wochenblatt für Landwirtschaft und Landleben’. ‘I don't have to research what's important in agriculture myself, I get the important information delivered free to my door once a week,’ says Theresa Ungru, a farmer from Hörstel-Dreierwalde in the Steinfurt district, who trusts the content of the weekly magazine. She can do that too, confirms Patrick Liste, editor-in-chief of the Wochenblatt: ‘The editorial team works independently of politics and organisations. We inform, categorise and thus give our readers the best possible overview of what is important.’
If you want to find out more about 180 years of Wochenblatt, you can do so in Wochenblatt issue 40 from 4 October 2024. The editorial team has analysed the history and future of the magazine in a 12-page special section.