Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel (German for "The Mirror") is Germany's biggest and most influential weekly magazine, published in Hamburg, with a circulation of around one million per week.

Development

The Spiegels circulation rose fast, and so did its influence. From 15,000 copies in 1947, it grew to 65,000 in 1948 and 437,000 in 1961. By the 1970s it had reached a plateau at over 900,000 copies. Since then the circulation has gone up and down but overall changed little. The one million barrier was broken in 1990, perhaps due to a great number of new readers in East Germany. The influence that the magazine enjoys rests on two pillars; firstly the moral authority that was established by notable pieces of investigative journalism during the early years and reinforced by a number of impressive scoops during the 1980s; secondly the power of the Spiegel publishing house. It has been producing a TV programme since 1988, and further diversified during the 1990s. Among other things, Spiegel Verlag now publishes the monthly Manager Magazin.

Related Topics:
1948 - 1961 - 1970s - 1990 - East Germany - 1980s - 1988 - 1990s

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In 1993 the publishing company Burda introduced the weekly magazine Focus which was designed to be an alternative to the Spiegel, featuring a flashier layout and a political slant that was more right-wing than the Spiegel's. It has been successful, eventually reaching roughly the Spiegels circulation.

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