Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Encyclopedia
F.A.Z. has a circulation of 366,844 (3rd quarter 2008) and has a slight centre-right or conservative bias. It has the legal form of a GmbH
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung is a type of legal entityvery common in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and other Central European countries...
; the independent FAZIT-Stiftung (FAZIT Foundation) is its majority shareholder (93.7%). The F.A.Z. runs its own correspondent network. Its editorial policy is not determined by a single editor, but cooperatively by five editors. It is the German newspaper with the widest circulation abroad, with its editors claiming to deliver the newspaper to 148 countries every day.
History
The first edition of the F.A.Z. appeared on November 1, 1949; its founding editor was Erich Welter. Some editors had worked for the Frankfurter ZeitungFrankfurter Zeitung
The Frankfurter Zeitung was a German language newspaper that appeared from 1856 to 1943. It emerged from a market letter that was published in Frankfurt...
which was banned in 1943.
Traditionally, many of the headlines in the F.A.Z. were styled in orthodox blackletter
Blackletter
Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to well into the 17th century. It continued to be used for the German language until the 20th century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes...
format and no photographs appeared on the title page. Some of the rare exceptions were a picture of the celebrating people in front of the Reichstag
Reichstag (building)
The Reichstag building is a historical edifice in Berlin, Germany, constructed to house the Reichstag, parliament of the German Empire. It was opened in 1894 and housed the Reichstag until 1933, when it was severely damaged in a fire. During the Nazi era, the few meetings of members of the...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on the German Unity Day
German Unity Day
The Day of German Unity is the national day of Germany, celebrated on 3 October as a public holiday. It commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990, when the goal of a unity of Germany that originated in the middle of the 19th century, was fulfilled. Therefore, the name addresses...
on 4 October 1990, and the two pictures in the edition of 12 September 2001 showing the collapsing World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
and the American president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
On October 5, 2007, the F.A.Z. altered their traditional layout to include color photographs on the front page and exclude blackletter
Blackletter
Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to well into the 17th century. It continued to be used for the German language until the 20th century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes...
typeface outside the nameplate
Nameplate (publishing)
In publishing, a nameplate is the title of a newspaper or other periodical in the type style and treatment in which it appears on the front page or cover of the periodical...
. Due to its traditionally sober layout, the introduction of colour photographs in the F.A.Z. was controversially discussed by the readers.
Currently, the F.A.Z. is produced electronically using the Networked Interactive Content Access (NICA) and Hermes. For its characteristic comment headings, a digital Fraktur
Fraktur (typeface)
Fraktur is a calligraphic hand and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The word derives from the past participle fractus of Latin frangere...
font was ordered. The Fraktur has since been abandoned, however, with the above-mentioned change of layout.
After introducing on August 1, 1999, the new spelling prescribed by the German spelling reform
German spelling reform of 1996
The German orthography reform of 1996 was an attempt to simplify the spelling of the German language and thus to make it easier to learn, without substantially changing the rules familiar to all living users of the language....
, the F.A.Z. returned exactly one year later to the old spelling, declaring that their experience had shown that the reform was ambiguous and partly nonsensical. After several changes had been made to the new spelling, F.A.Z. accepted it and started using it (in a custom version) on January 1, 2007.
Profile
The F.A.Z. is one of a small number of high-profile national newspapers in Germany (along with its closest competitors, the Süddeutsche ZeitungSüddeutsche Zeitung
The Süddeutsche Zeitung , published in Munich, is the largest German national subscription daily newspaper.-Profile:The title literally translates as "South German Newspaper". It is read throughout Germany by 1.1 million readers daily and boasts a relatively high circulation abroad...
and Die Welt
Die Welt
Die Welt is a German national daily newspaper published by the Axel Springer AG company.It was founded in Hamburg in 1946 by the British occupying forces, aiming to provide a "quality newspaper" modelled on The Times...
). It maintains the largest number of foreign correspondents of any European newspaper (53 as of 2002).
The F.A.Z. promotes an image of making its readers think. The truth is stated to be sacred to the F.A.Z., so care is taken to clearly label news reports and comments as such. Its political orientation is classical liberal with an occasional support for conservative views by providing a forum to commentators with different opinions. In particular, the feuilleton and some sections of the Sunday edition cannot be said to be specifically conservative or liberal at all.
Famous contributors
- Patrick Bahners
- Hans Dietmar Barbier
- Dietmar DathDietmar DathDietmar Dath is aGerman novelist.- Life :Dath grew up in Schopfheim, finished the high school in Freiburg, did his civilian service and studied mathematics and German studies in Freiburg....
- Karl Feldmeier
- Joachim FestJoachim FestJoachim Clemens Fest was a German historian, journalist, critic and editor, best known for his writings and public commentary on Nazi Germany, including an important biography of Adolf Hitler and books about Albert Speer and the German Resistance...
(former editor) - Karl Friedrich Fromme (former editor)
- Greser&Lenz
- Georg Paul Hefty
- Florian Illies
- Daniel KehlmannDaniel KehlmannDaniel Kehlmann is a German language author of both Austrian and German nationality. His work Die Vermessung der Welt is the best selling novel in the German language since Patrick Süskind's Perfume was released in 1985...
- Christian KrachtChristian KrachtChristian Kracht is a Swiss novelist and journalist.-Early life:Kracht was born in Saanen. His father, Christian Kracht Sr., was chief representative for the Axel Springer publishing company in the 1960s. Kracht attended Schule Schloss Salem in Baden and Lakefield College School in Ontario, Canada...
- Ernst NolteErnst NolteErnst Nolte is a German historian and philosopher. Nolte’s major interest is the comparative studies of Fascism and Communism. He is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the Free University of Berlin, where he taught from 1973 to 1991. He was previously a Professor at the University of Marburg...
- Andreas Platthaus
- Marcel Reich-RanickiMarcel Reich-RanickiMarcel Reich-Ranicki is a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the literary group Gruppe 47. He is regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the field of German literature and therefore was in Germany often called the 'Pope of literature' .-Life:Marcel...
- Volker Reiche (see Strizz)
- Frank SchirrmacherFrank SchirrmacherFrank Schirrmacher is a German journalist, doctored literature expert and essayist, writer, and since 1994 co-publisher of the national German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.-Education:...