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overview
holdings
landmarks
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landmarks
This chronology is indicative only. It covers -
Context is provided by the broader communications and
media timeline on this site.
antecedents
1861 Schweizerische Handelszeitung launched by
Friedrich von Taur
beginnings
1912
Axel Caesar Springer born in Hamburg, subsequently inherits
father's newspaper and Hammerich & Lesser publishing house
1946 founds Nordwestdeutsche Hefte newspaper and
radio magazine Hör Zu
1947 forms Axel Springer GmbH
1948 launches women’s magazine Constanze
1948 launches daily Hamburger Abendblatt
1952 launches national tabloid Bild-Zeitung
1953 buys Die Welt and Welt am Sonntag broadsheets
1956 launches tabloid Bild am Sonntag
swallows Ullstein
1956 buys stake in Ullstein publishing group
1959 buys majority of Ullstein
AG, including Berliner Morgenpost newspaper, B.Z.
and Ullstein books
1961 sells part of Constanze to Gruner+Jahr
1964 buys Düsseldorf Mittag newspaper and Kindler
& Schiermeyer publishing group
1965 founds teen magazine Twen, buys Bravo
magazine
1965 launches Kicker sports magazine
1966 launches Eltern magazine
1966 sells Quick, Revue, Kicker and Twen
to Bauer for DM60m
1967 buys radio and TV program guide Funk Uhr
1968 sells Das Neue Blatt and Bravo
to Bauer
at its peak?
1968 government inquiry indicates that Axel Springer publishes
40% of West German newspapers and 20% of magazines
1970 buys Lubecher Nachrichten newspaper
1971 buys stake in in the Bergdorfer Zeitung
1971 buys Elmshorner Nachrichten
1976 found Cora Verlag to publish bodice rippers
1976 launches Musikjoker and Ski magazines
1977 Jean Frey AG launches Bilanz as successor
of Wirtschaftsrevue (est 1962) and monthly Schweizerische
Wirtschaftszeitung
1978 Axel Springer launches women's magazine Journal
für Haushalt & Familie
1979 buys majority holding in Kunst & Technik Verlag,
inc Weltkunst and Kunstpreis-Jahrbuch annual
1983 launches women's magazine Bild der Frau
1983 launches Tennis Magazin, Foto Magazin
and tv magazine Bildwoche
1984 group becomes public company
1984 Kirch buys 10% stake (later
increased to 40.05%)
1985 Axel Springer dies
second generation
1986 launch of car magazine AUTO BILD
1986 buys stake in local daily Pinneberger Tageblatt
1986 takes stake in Radio Schleswig-Holstein, subsequently
invests in six other radio stations
1987 abortive takeover by Burda
family and Kirch
1988 weekly SPORT BILD launched
1988 increases Bergdorfer Zeitung stake to 100%
1988 buys Spanish magazine publisher SARPE
1988 buys stake in Austrian Der Standard
1989 buys stake in local newspapers Hamburger Anzeigen
& Nachrichten and Tiroler Tageszeitung
1990 buys stake in local papers Leipziger Volkszeitung
and Rostock Ostseezeitung
1990 buys Észak-Magyarország and Hajdu-Bihari
Napló in Hungary
1991 Internationale Sportrechte-Verwertungsgesellschaft
(ISPR) founded in partnership with Kirch
1992 launches TVneu magazine and B.Z. am Sonntag
1994 Axel Springer and Kirch gain
licence for Hamburg 1 tv station
1994 launches PANI DOMU, a women's magazine in
Poland
1995 launches Allegra women's magazine
1995 sells stake in Der Standard
1995 pulls out of Europe Online consortium
1995 takes stake in AOL Bertelsmann Online with AOL,
Bertelsmann and Deutsche
Telekom
1995 launches CIENIE I BLASKI and NA ZYWO
in Poland
1996 launches family magazine FAMILIE & CO
1996 takes stake in Aktuell Presse Fernsehen
1996 launches COMPUTER BILD
1996 buys majority of Finanzen Verlag (later increased
to 100%)
1997 buys 7 of Hungary's 19 provincial dailies
1998 buys 95% stake in Munich-based Verlagsgruppe Goethestrasse
(Econ, List, Claassen, Sudwest, Ludwig and von Schroder
imprints)
1998 launches women's magazine OLIVIA in Poland
1998 sells 25% stake in Austrian regional News publishing
to Bertelsmann's Grüner
+Jahr
1998 buys Spanish newspaper publisher Hobby Press S.A
1998 launches COMPUTER BILD editions in Poland
and Spain
1998 launches Euro am Sonntag newspaper
1999 buys 51% of Canadian animation studio GRB
1999 buys tv talk show production company Schwartzkopff
TV
1999 sells 10% stake in AOL Bertelsmann
Online
1999 buys majority of Swiss publishing group Handelszeitung
und Finanzrundschau AG (Schweizerische Handelszeitung)
1999 takes 25% stake in Studio Hamburg and 50% in Metropol
Film & Fernsehgesellschaft
1999 buys majority of Yukom Medien GmbH in Munich and
Sportmagazin Verlag in Austria
1999 buys Romanian magazine publisher LvB Invest International
2000 buys majority of French publishing company Media
Mag SA
trouble with Kirch
2000 takes 11.5% stake in ProSiebenSat.1 television group,
controlled by Kirch
2001 Kirch buys Axel Springer's share in Sport1, taking
equity to 76.5%
2001 buys publisher Wilhelm Heyne
2001 buys Budapest Lapkiado, Zold Ujsag and Vilagazdasag
publishers in Hungary
2001 buys Automedia publishers in Czech Republic
2001 buys VNU Budapest from VNU
2002 Kirch collapses, unbundling of relationship with
Axel Springer commences
2003 Axel Springer agrees to sell Ullstein-Heyne-List
book publishing interests to Bertelsmann subsidiary Random
House
2003 Deutsche Bank sells 19.4% of Axel Springer to Hellman
& Friedman
2005 announces €2.5bn takeover of dominant German
commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat (abandoned in 2006
after refusal by regulators)
2006 buys 25% of Dogan TV (Turkey) from Dogan family for
€375m
2006 acquires Swiss publisher Jean Frey (inc Bilanz,
Beobachter and TV-Star)
2007 announces plan to sell its 12% stake in broadcaster
ProSiebenSat.1 to the company's private equity owners
KKR and Permira for €509m (£365m)
2007 acquires Ringier's Swiss
TV program magazines
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