Hamburger Abendblatt

After completing an apprenticeship as a typesetter and printer in his father Hinrich Springer's business and an internship at the Wolffs Telegraphisches Bureau news agency and the Bergedorfer Zeitung newspaper, Axel Cäsar Springer returned to his father's newspaper, the Altonaer Nachrichten. In 1946, he began building his empire with the founding of Hör Zu! and, two years later, the Hamburger Abendblatt. In 1952, he conceived his recipe for media success: the first issue of the tabloid Bild. To this day, Bild shapes the opinions of millions of readers and is the highest-circulation newspaper in Europe. Springer died on September 22, 1985, in West Berlin. Today, the company he founded, Axel Springer, is one of the largest media groups in Europe. Politically, Axel Springer was a staunch transatlanticist who was close to the Western community of values with his orientation towards a free market economy and an anti-communist stance. He also explicitly advocated the reunification of Germany and Germany's reconciliation with the Jews, and vehemently supported Israel's right to exist.

Christian Siebert is managing director of FUNKE Medien Hamburg, overseeing the company's regional media operations in the Hansestadt. He is responsible for Hamburger Abendblatt, Bergedorfer Zeitung, Hamburger Wochenblatt, and related publications.
Prior to his current role, Siebert led FUNKE One, the company's new business division. His earlier positions included managing director of business development and partnerships at digital agency DIU MarTech Solutions and managing director of content agency Alphabeta. He began his career at Bauer Media Group, holding positions including publishing manager for Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as managing director roles at subsidiaries in Slovakia and Germany. He was also a member of the management board at RTV Media Group at Bertelsmann.

Dr. Simone Kasik has been Group Managing Director of the FUNKE Media Group since 2021. She is also Managing Director of FUNKE Medien NRW, majority shareholder of Zeitungsverlag Niederrhein, which publishes the WAZ. As Chief Financial Officer, Kasik is responsible for commercial group management at FUNKE. She has worked at FUNKE since 1991 and most recently headed the Group Controlling division since 2010 and the Corporate Finance division since 2017. During this time, she played a key role in the successful takeover and integration of Axel Springer's newspaper and magazine titles from 2014 onwards. During her time at FUNKE, Kasik also managed Group-wide strategy projects and implemented Group-wide process optimisations and financing projects with her teams.

Dr. Christoph Rüth has been Group Managing Director of the FUNKE Media Group since 2020. He is also Managing Director of FUNKE Medien NRW, majority shareholder of Zeitungsverlag Niederrhein, which publishes the WAZ. The media manager comes from the MADSACK Media Group, where he was responsible for operations. Previously, he was Managing Director of the Financial Times Deutschland and the subscription newspapers at Axel Springer. Today's FUNKE newspapers Berliner Morgenpost and Hamburger Abendblatt were part of his portfolio there. Christoph Rüth is responsible for the FUNKE newspaper brands across all distribution channels, including their marketing and the necessary units at FUNKE Digital.

Lars Haider is the editor-in-chief of the Hamburger Abendblatt. Haider was born in Hamburg in 1969 and has been editor-in-chief of the Hamburger Abendblatt since 2011. He is a graduate of the Axel Springer School of Journalism and has worked for various publications within the Axel Springer Group, including Welt and Berliner Morgenpost. He is considered one of the journalists who knows former Chancellor Olaf Scholz very well and is the author of a biography of Scholz that became a Spiegel bestseller in 2022.