Periodicals : Germany

More than 9,000 periodicals are published in Germany. There is a large group of just under 1,650 general-interest magazines with a total circulation of about 150 million. In addition to the news magazines, periodicals with particularly large circulations include the radio and television magazines, topical illustrated magazines such as “Stern” and “Bunte”, and women’s magazines. More and more readers are also turning to special-interest publications, which target a particular audience by focusing on a single subject such as tennis, sailing, computers or electronic entertainment equipment.

There are many technical journals as well, but they have only moderate circulations. Other periodicals include the church magazines, customer magazines and freesheets. One third of the periodicals market is accounted for by various organizations and associations. The motoring magazine “ADAC-Motorwelt” published by the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobilclub has a circulation of about 13 million, the largest in Germany. Newspaper stands in the major cities carry a large selection of foreign newspapers and periodicals.