August Scherl (24 July 1849 – 18 April 1921) was a German

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

Career

August Hugo Friedrich Scherl founded a newspaper and publishing concern on 1 October 1883, which from 1900 carried the name . He was editor of the ''Berlin Local Advertiser'' (''Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger'') since 3 November 1883, and his publishing house started the weekly magazine ''

Die Woche ' (, 'The Week') was an illustrated weekly newspaper published in Berlin from 1899 to 1944. Overview ''Die Woche'' reported on popular entertainment, including "sensationalist crime stories", and covered celebrities in sports and show business ...

'' (The Week) in 1899. In 1904 he took over publication of the widely popular magazine ''

Die Gartenlaube (; ) was the first successful mass-circulation German newspaper and a forerunner of all modern magazines.Sylvia Palatschek: ''Popular Historiographies in the 19th and 20th Centuries'' (Oxford: Berghahn, 2010) p. 41 It was founded by publisher ...

''. As a result, his publishing company had the largest circulation of any in Germany at the time. In 1909 he developed a monorail system for Germany in his book ''A New Rapid Transit System''. His expensive newspaper projects were not economically successful, so in 1913, Scherl informed Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg that he was going to sell his company's shares. The company was eventually purchased by and the

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

financier of ''Deutscher Verlagsverein'' with financing of 8 million marks. On February 5, 1914, Scherl resigned from the management, selling his shares in the German Publishers Association. His nationwide newspaper empire was taken over by

Alfred Hugenberg Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Hugenberg (19 June 1865 – 12 March 1951) was an influential German businessman and politician. An important figure in nationalist politics in Germany during the first three decades of the twentieth century, ...

in 1916, and later by

Max Amann Max Amann (24 November 1891 – 30 March 1957) was a high-ranking member of the Nazi Party, a German politician, businessman and art collector, including of looted art. He was the first business manager of the Nazi Party and later became the hea ...

(

Franz-Eher-Verlag Franz Eher Nachfolger GmbH (''Franz Eher and Successors, LLC'', usually referred to as the Eher-Verlag (''Eher Publishing'')) was the central publishing house of the Nazi Party and one of the largest book and periodical firms during the Nazi regi ...

). The

General-Anzeiger The ''General-Anzeiger'' is a regional daily newspaper based in the city of Bonn, the former West German capital in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The paper was first published in April 1888. In addition to the city and i ...

-Presse (General Advertiser Press) in Germany was founded by Scherl.

Publications by Scherl

* 1883: ''

Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger The ''Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger'' was a daily newspaper published in Berlin, with one of the highest national circulations of its time. Its publisher was newspaper magnate August Scherl, who also owned '' Die Woche'', an illustrated weekly. . Afte ...

'' * 1889: '' Berliner Abendzeitung'' * 1894: ''Neueste Berliner Handels- und Börsennachrichten'' * 1895: '' Sport im Bild'' (first German sport illustrated) * 1898: ''Berlin has no theater audience! Suggestions for eliminating the abuses in our theater system'' * 1899: ''

'' * 1899: ''Sport im Wort'' * 1900: '' Der Tag'' * 1904: ''

'' * 1905: ''Praktischer Wegweiser'', later as ''Allgemeiner Wegweiser'' * 1909: ''A new rapid transit system - suggestions for improving passenger transport'' * 1922: Berlin illustrated night edition * 1928: Thinking and Guessing *

Der Kinematograph Der or DER may refer to: Places * Darkənd, Azerbaijan * Dearborn (Amtrak station) (station code), in Michigan, US * Der (Sumer), an ancient city located in modern-day Iraq * d'Entrecasteaux Ridge, an oceanic ridge in the south-west Pacific Ocean ...

* Scherl’s Magazin

Personal life

Scherl was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. As a boy, he lived with his parents in Naunynstrasse, but in later life he remained in the central district of Berlin. He died in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and is buried at the Luisenstadt cemetery. He had a villa constructed in Dahlem in secret, in order to surprise his wife. When she made a derogatory comment about the building, when driving past it, Scherl had the house demolished, without informing his wife. The secret of his success was his readiness to take risks, understanding of economics, foresight, innovation and unwillingness to take anything on trust.

References

Sources

External links

1849 births 1921 deaths 19th-century German newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century German newspaper publishers (people) Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger Businesspeople from Berlin Businesspeople from Düsseldorf {{Germany-business-bio-stub