The dtv Verlagsgesellschaft is a German publishing house headquartered in
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
. It was founded in 1960 by eleven publishers as a common
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...
publishing house named "Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag" (German paperback publishing house). Starting in 1996, dtv also published original editions and first editions. Since 2012, dtv has its own program with hardcover books. In 2015 the company's sales, with its 125 employees, were €65 million. dtv publishes approximately 500 new books annually. Its inventory of available titles and e-books is around 7000.
In June 2015 the "Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag" became the "dtv Verlagsgesellschaft".
From 1996 to 2015, Wolfgang Balk was the publishing CEO of dtv.
Founding
The founding of the publishing house happened through the initiative of publisher Joseph Caspar Witsch, who convinced ten other publishers to publish paperbacks together. The combination was initially a company for the exploitation of publishing rights. They were to only publish the books of publishers that joined. On 30 November 1960, the company was entered in the commercial register; provisional manager was Curt Vinz. On 15 January 1961, the publisher officially started its activities and was led by Heinz Friedrich. Friedrich was the program director of Radio Bremen. From 1956 to 1959, Friedrich had been the chief editor of S. Fischer Verlag. Soon licenses from other publishers, who did not belong to the shareholders, were added on and their production began. For the design of the books,
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
*Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
* Swiss, West Virginia
*Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
* Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
* Swiss Internation ...
graphic designer Celestino Piatti was responsible, in which he designed a uniform typographic and graphical appearance.
Shareholders of the publishers treaty included the Artemis Verlag, C.H.Beck/Biederstein, Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt,
Carl Hanser Verlag
The Carl Hanser Verlag was founded in 1928 by Carl Hanser in Munich and is one of the few medium-sized publishing companies in the German-speaking area still owned by the founding family.
History
From the very beginning, the publishing house h ...
, Hegner Verlag, Insel Verlag,
Kiepenheuer & Witsch
Kiepenheuer & Witsch is a German publishing house, established in 1948 by Joseph C. Witsch and on behalf of Gustav Kiepenheuer (who was already terminally ill). The partners initially held respectively 30% and 40% of the company's share capita ...
, Kösel-Verlag, Nymphenburger Verlag, Piper Verlag and Walter Verlag. Heinz Friedrich was also a partner.
The first title published in 1961 was
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...
's ''Irisches Tagebuch''. The book has since been continuously dtv- number 1 for availability. Other titles published in the start year were ''Die Atombombe und die Zukunft des Menschen'' by
Karl Jaspers
Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspe ...
, as well as ''Nur für Leser'' by Friedrich Sieburg. The design of the books caused a sensation, because Piatti presented the book covers of the dtv-volumes in brilliant white and an individual image for the title was used, where as the cover for paperbacks from other publishers were mostly designed colorfully. Celestino Piatti designed around 6000 dtv book covers up until his retirement in 1993.
Publishing program
The publisher's concentration was editions, such as the first
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
edition in paperback,
Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...
's complete works and the
German dictionary
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
of the
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among th ...
.
Contemporary German literature included in the program were that of, among others,
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...
,
Günter Grass
Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.
He was born in the Free City of D ...
,
Siegfried Lenz
Siegfried Lenz (; 17 March 19267 October 2014) was a German writer of novels, short stories and essays, as well as dramas for radio and the theatre. In 2000 he received the Goethe Prize on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's bi ...
Angelika Schrobsdorff
Angelika Schrobsdorff (24 December 1927 – 30 July 2016) was a German writer.
Life
Schrobsdorff's was born the daughter of Else Kirschner (1893–1949), an assimilated Jew from Berlin, and her second husband Erich Schrobsdorff (1893–19 ...
Antje Rávic Strubel
Antje is a female name. It is a Low German and Dutch diminutive form of Anna. Once a very common name in the northern part of the Netherlands, its popularity has steadily declined since 1900.Christopher Kloeble, Wolf Wondratschek,
Thomas Glavinic
Thomas Glavinic (born 2 April 1972 in Graz) is an Austrian writer. With Kathrin Röggla and Daniel Kehlmann, he is among other contemporary Austrian authors being perceived as significantly shaping the literary discussion in Austria.
Life
The ...
, Ulrich Woelk and Judith Zander.
International literature paperback editions included are from authors such as
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...
Michael Ondaatje
Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards such as the Governor General's Award, the Giller P ...
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review '' WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...
,
Graham Swift
Graham Colin Swift FRSL (born 4 May 1949) is an English writer. Born in London, England, he was educated at Dulwich College, London, Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the University of York.
Career
Some of Swift's books have been filmed ...
,
Eshkol Nevo
Eshkol Nevo ( he, אשכול נבו, born 28 February 1971) is an Israeli writer who has published a collection of short stories, five novels and a work of non-fiction. One of his novels, ''Homesick'', was awarded the Book Publishers Association ...
Ha Jin
Jin Xuefei (; born February 21, 1956) is a Chinese-American poet and novelist using the pen name Ha Jin (). ''Ha'' comes from his favorite city, Harbin. His poetry is associated with the Misty Poetry movement.
Early life
Ha Jin was born i ...
. Even
Julia Franck
Julia Franck (born 1970, in East Berlin) is a German writer.
Life
Julia Franck, a twin, is the daughter of the actress Anna Katharina Franck and of the television producer Jürgen Sehmisch.
In 1978 the family moved to West Berlin where they sp ...
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himsel ...
, Andreas Kollender and
António Lobo Antunes
António Lobo Antunes, GCSE (; born 1 September 1942) is a Portuguese novelist and retired medical doctor. He has been named as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He has been awarded the 2000 Austrian State Prize, the 2003 Ovid P ...
were in the program over several years with several titles.
The nonfiction program with publications on social, literary, cultural historical and political issues, guidebooks and reference books has authors such as
Daniel Goleman
Daniel Goleman (born March 7, 1946) is an author, psychologist, and science journalist. For twelve years, he wrote for ''The New York Times'', reporting on the brain and behavioral sciences. His 1995 book ''Emotional Intelligence'' was on ''Th ...
,
Marcel Reich-Ranicki
Marcel Reich-Ranicki (; 2 June 1920 – 18 September 2013) was a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the informal literary association Gruppe 47. He was regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the fi ...
,
Ian Kershaw
Sir Ian Kershaw (born 29 April 1943) is an English historian whose work has chiefly focused on the social history of 20th-century Germany. He is regarded by many as one of the world's leading experts on Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, and is pa ...
,
Wolfgang Benz
Wolfgang Benz (born 9 June 1941) is a German historian from Ellwangen. He was the director of the Center for Research on Antisemitism of the Technische Universität Berlin between 1990 and 2011.
Personal life
Benz studied history, political ...
, Verena Kast,
Hildegard Hamm-Brücher
Hildegard Hamm-Brücher (11 May 1921 – 7 December 2016) was a liberal politician in Germany. She held federal state secretary positions from 1969 to 1972 and from 1977 to 1982. She was the Free Democratic Party's candidate in the first ...
and
Marianne Koch
Marianne Koch (; born 19 August 1931) is a German actress of the 1950s and 1960s, best known for her appearances in Spaghetti Westerns and adventure films of the 1960s. She later worked as a television host and as a physician.
Career
Betwee ...
. Also, multicolored books including
André Heller
Franz André Heller (; born 22 March 1947 as Francis Charles Georges Jean André Heller-Hueart) is an Austrian artist, author, poet, singer, songwriter and actor.
Biography
Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manufac ...
's ''Bilderleben'', appear in dtv.
In ''dtv premium'', paperback originals and first editions in the fields of fiction and nonfiction in larger formats have been published since 1996. In 2012, ''dtv hardcover'' was launched with Rita Falk's novel ''Hannes'' and Jussi Adler-Olsen's thriller ''Verachtung''. In 2014, the label ''dtvDIGITAL'' was established in order to merge the e-book publishing activities.
In the founding year, the first book series ''dtv documente'' was released, in which the first volume was ''Das Urteil von Nürnberg 1946''. The series includes documents from authentic texts on issues about history and contemporary history, as well as art, literature and intellectual history. In the sixties, another series like ''dtv sachbuch'', ''dtv kunst'' and''Wissenschaftliche Reihe'' (later in 1979 ''dtv wissenschaft'') came about. Complete editions from writers such as Goethe,
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
or Büchner were published. In 1975 the so-called ''Dünndruck-Ausgaben'' became available. Through the use of thin paper, more extensive works such as Grimmelshausen's ''Simplicissimus'' or novels from
Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...
could be published.
To date, a few editions of the early years have remained, including the 1973 launched series ''dtv zweisprachig'' and the 1977 established ''dtv großdruck''. ''dtv großdruck'' contains a selection of dtv titles in full, and in the eye friendly "Garamond 12 point" font, which are mainly intended for the elderly and visually impaired. Furthermore, the series of reference books and atlases from yet he early sixties have maintained to this day and form an important sector in the published program.
The design was redesigned in 1996/1997. At that time, the first volumes of the series ''dtv premium'' were published.