Osthüringer Zeitung
Ostthüringer Zeitung (OTZ) is part of Funke Medien Thüringen. Together with Thüringer Allgemeine and Thüringische Landeszeitung, it forms an editorial community. The three newspapers share substantially identical content and are published in the same format with only minimal layout variations. In 1990, they were consolidated into Zeitungsgruppe Thüringen (ZGT), which operated as Mediengruppe Thüringen GmbH until 2015, before being renamed Funke Medien Thüringen in 2020. This consolidation established them as one of Germany's highest-circulation regional newspaper groups.
Ostthüringer Zeitung emerged in 1990 from Volkswacht, a former East German newspaper under SED control. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was renamed Ostthüringer Zeitung and declared editorial independence as part of the broader transformation of the three regional publications.
The newspaper's current ownership structure reflects a complex arrangement. Funke Mediengruppe GmbH & Co. KGaA, the parent company controlled by the heirs of WAZ founder Jakob Funke (primarily his daughter Petra Grotkamp and her children), holds a 60% stake in the newspaper. The remaining 40% is held by SIGNA Medien GmbH, a subsidiary of Austrian billionaire René Benko's SIGNA Holding. However, this ownership structure has become complicated due to significant legal and financial developments. Since 2023, SIGNA Holding has faced insolvency proceedings, and Benko has been criminally charged with delaying insolvency and money laundering. He has been in custody since 2024, with his trial scheduled to begin in late 2025. If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison. Although Benko officially relinquished his shares in SIGNA Holding due to the insolvency, the Benko Family Private Foundation continues to hold 66% of the company, managed by his mother and underage daughter. The extent to which Benko still controls the foundation remains unclear and is a central issue in the ongoing legal proceedings.
Additionally, in 2021, Germany's Federal Cartel Office prohibited Funke Mediengruppe from acquiring SIGNA's shares outright, citing market monopoly concerns, as Ostthüringer Zeitung and Thüringische Landeszeitung serve partially overlapping regions.
Key Facts
| Audience Share | 72.8% (Funke Medien Thüringen total) |
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| Ownership Type | Private |
| Content Type | Paid |
| Data Publicly Available | ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc. |
| Media Companies / Groups | OTZ Ostthüringer Zeitung Verlag GmbH & Co. KG legal_identifier: Limited liability company (GmbH) Local court Jena HRA 200276 |
Ownership
| Ownership Structure | Ostthüringer Zeitung is published by OTZ OSTTHÜRINGER ZEITUNG Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. This company is 60% owned by Funke Publishing GmbH, a subsidiary of Funke Mediengruppe GmbH & Co. KGaA. Funke Mediengruppe is controlled by the heirs of WAZ founder Jakob Funke: his daughter Petra Grotkamp and her children Julia Becker, Nora Marx, and Niklas Jakob Wilcke. The remaining 40% of OTZ is held by SIGNA Medien GmbH, a subsidiary of SIGNA Holding. SIGNA Holding was majority-controlled by Austrian entrepreneur René Benko. Since 2023, Benko has faced insolvency proceedings on charges of delaying insolvency and money laundering. He has been in custody since 2024. Benko was stripped of his shares, but the Benko Family Private Foundation still holds 66% of SIGNA Holding. This foundation is managed by his mother and is linked to a further foundation run by Benko's daughter Laura Benko via covert network with connections to private bank in Liechtenstein. It is suspected that this foundation network was set up to protect money from creditors. The extent to which Benko still controls the Benko Family Foundation and his daughter's foundations is unclear and is the subject of ongoing legal proceedings. In September 2021, the Federal Cartel Office prohibited Funke Mediengruppe from acquiring SIGNA's shares. The reason: Ostthüringer Zeitung and Thüringische Landeszeitung have partially identical catchment areas, raising market monopoly concerns. |
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| Voting Rights | Missing data |
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Media Companies / Groups
Facts
| Founding Year | 1990 Funke Medien Thüringen traces its origins back to the Thüringen newspaper group, which merged Die Thüringer Allgemeine, Ostthüringer Zeitung, and Thüringische Landeszeitung in 1990 in the post-reunification period. The Osthüringer Zeitung had previously been published under the name Volkswacht as the official press organ of the SED party leadership in Gera. |
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| Contact | Johannisstraße 8 7545 Gera Germany '+49 (0) 365 / 77 33 10 https://www.otz.de/service/impressum/ |
| Revenue | Missing Data |
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| Operating Profit | Missing Data |
| Advertising (in % of total funding) | Missing Data |
| Market Share | Missing Data |