Nordwest-Zeitung

Logo of Nordwest-Zeitung

Nordwest-Zeitung is a regional newspaper serving northwestern Lower Saxony around the Oldenburg region. According to circulation data from 2025, the newspaper sold 76,465 copies. The newspaper is published by NWZ Mediengruppe and has been family-owned since its founding.


NWZ Mediengruppe publishes multiple regional newspapers and holds stakes in radio and television stations as well as advertising businesses in northwestern Germany. In the mid-2000s, antitrust proceedings were initiated against NWZ Mediengruppe regarding its acquisition of shares in Ostfriesland newspaper publications through intermediary companies and trustees. Following an investigation by the Federal Cartel Office in 2006, NWZ Mediengruppe was fined €2.5 million and the former publisher of the Köser family was fined €200,000. In October 2007, NWZ Mediengruppe divested its shares in Ostfriesland newspaper publications and related publishing ventures.


In September 2025, it was announced that NWZ Mediengruppe would sell Nordwest-Zeitung to Madsack Media Group, with the transaction scheduled to take effect in January 2026. The sale remains subject to Federal Cartel Office approval. Following the transaction, Sylvia Madsack (19.1% shareholder) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (23.1% shareholder) would become proportional owners of Nordwest-Zeitung.

Key Facts

Audience Share9.68 %
Ownership TypePrivate
Content TypePaid
Data Publicly Available
ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.
Media Companies / GroupsNordwest-Zeitung Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG
legal_identifier: Limited liability com"Limited liability company and limited partnership (GmbH & Co. KG) Oldenburg Local Court Hpany and limited partnership (GmbH & Co. KG) Oldenburg Local Court HRA 3586

Ownership

Ownership Structure

Nordwest-Zeitung is published by Nordwest-Zeitung Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of Nordwest Medien GmbH & Co. KG (NWZ Mediengruppe), a regional media group that holds a dominant position in the newspaper market in northwestern Germany.
NWZ Mediengruppe is owned by the von Bothmer and Köser publishing families, descendants of NWZ founder Fritz Bock. Stephan Graf von Bothmer holds 49.95% through von Bothmer Familiengesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. The remaining shares are held by Fritz-Hermann Köser (16.18%), Inga Hager (16.18%), Hartwig Köser (16.18%), and Margit Köser (1.49%).

Voting RightsMissing Data
Individual Owner
Group / Individual Owner
  • Inga Hager

    Little is known publicly about Inga Hager. She is a shareholder of the Nordwest Mediengruppe and holds identical shares to individual members of the Köser family, which could indicate inheritance and therefore kinship. However, there is no verifiable information on this.
    16.18

Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year1946

The Nordwest-Zeitung was the first regional newspaper in the British sector of post-war Germany to receive a license from the British occupying forces to distribute newspapers.

Founder
  • Fritz Bock

    Fritz Bock (born January 3, 1882, died July 14, 1954) was a German newspaper publisher and journalist who, together with Joachim Pierre Pabst, obtained a license to publish the Nordwest-Zeitung in 1946. Under his leadership, the first issue appeared on April 26, 1946, and within a few years the newspaper had developed into a regional paper published six times a week.

CEO
  • Stephanie von Unruh

    Stephanie von Unruh serves as managing director of Nordwest Mediengruppe since August 1, 2020, responsible for the daily and weekly newspaper publishers. Previously, she headed the circulation market for North Rhine-Westphalia at Funke Mediengruppe for five years and served as director of direct sales operations at Axel Springer for five years. She also co-initiated a digital subsidiary with Bremer Tageszeitung AG for developing joint products.

  • Thorben Meiners
Editor-In-Chief
  • Ulrich Schönborn

    Ulrich Schönborn is editor-in-chief of the Nordwest Mediengruppe, based in Oldenburg. He has held this position since January 2022 and was previously editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief at the Nordwest-Zeitung, among other roles. His journalistic career has taken him through positions as editor, managing editor and head of his own press agency.

ContactWilhelmshavener Heerstraße 260
26125 Oldenburg
Germany
red.online@nwzmedien.de
+49 (0) 441/9988 01
https://www.nwzonline.de
RevenueEUR 41.2 million / USD 44.5 million (2023)
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta Data

Audience share per federal state calculated according to the IVW circulation analysis 2024.

The average exchange rate of the US dollar against the euro in 2023 was approximately 0.92 euros per US dollar.

Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • Bericht des Bundeskartellamtes über seine Tätigkeit in den Jahren 2007/2008 sowie über die Lage und Entwicklung auf seinem Aufgabengebiet
    File
  • Wiedergabe des aktuellen Registerinhalts, Nordwest-Medien, HRA 3250
    File
  • Ausdruck Handelsregister, Nordwest-Medien, HRA 3250
    File
  • Historischer Abdruck, Nordwest-Medien, HRA 3250
    File
  • Konzernabschluss 2023, Nordwest Medien Gruppe, HRA 3586
    File