Weser-Kurier

Logo of Weser-Kurier

The Weser-Kurier is the leading regional newspaper in the state of Bremen and the neighboring region of Lower Saxony, with a daily reach of approximately 351,000 readers in print and 112,430 digital users per day (2023).

It is published six days a week in print, as well as in e-paper, app, and social media formats. The program includes comprehensive coverage of politics, business, culture, and sports, supplemented by regional specials such as “A Journey Through 75 Years of Bremen History.”

The newspaper was founded on September 19, 1945, as the first licensed newspaper of the American military government, with Hans Hackmack acting as license holder and publisher.
In the early post-war years, the WK remained non-partisan with a clear social-liberal orientation. In 1974, the Weser-Kurier took over the Bremer Nachrichten, which significantly strengthened its market position. Today, the publishing house belongs to Bremer Tageszeitungen AG (BTAG), which is owned equally by Ulrich Hackmack and Christian Güssow.

The editorial management is in the hands of editors-in-chief Silke Hellwig and Benjamin Piel, supported by sole director David Koopmann.

The Weser-Kurier went through a series of legal disputes in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Under Ulrich Hackmack's leadership as CEO of Bremer Tageszeitungen AG, there were massive internal conflicts, particularly due to the management style of the editor-in-chief he appointed and tensions with the staff.

The Deutsche Journalisten Verband (DJV) (German Association of Journalists) also criticised the practice of filling editorial positions through the publisher's own subsidiaries, such as Pressedienst Nord, which paid significantly below the standard rate, which was described as ‘wage dumping’. The staff then took legal action to establish a group-wide works council. At the same time, the power struggle between Hackmack and his co-owner Christian Güssow escalated, with Güssow successfully obtaining a legal ruling that Hackmack's contract extension was null and void. After years of disputes, Hackmack resigned in 2013, but remained in supervisory roles at BTAG and the Weser-Kurier media group

Key Facts

Audience Share53.6%
Ownership TypePrivate
Geographic CoverageLocal
Content TypePaid
Data Publicly Available
ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc.

Ownership

Ownership Structure

Weser Kurier, a daily newspaper, is wholly owned by Bremer Tageszeitung AG, which in turn is a 100% subsidiary of Hackmack, Meyer KG. This limited partnership is owned in equal shares (50% each) by Dr. Ulrich Hackmack and Christian Güssow, who are the beneficial owners and ultimately controlling persons.

Control over the media company is exercised indirectly through Hackmack, Meyer KG as an intermediate holding structure. No other legal or economic intermediate layers are known.

Voting RightsMissing Data
Individual Owner

Media Companies / Groups

Facts

Founding Year1945

The Weser-Kurier was founded on September 19, 1945, as the first free daily newspaper in post-war Germany. The license to publish was granted by the US military government.

Founder
  • Hans Hackmack

    The founder of the Weser-Kurier was Hans Hackmack, a journalist and publisher from Bremen. In 1945, he received a license from the US military government to establish the first free daily newspaper in post-war Germany. Hackmack had previously worked as a journalist and was committed to independent, democratic journalism. There is no reliable public information available about family holdings in other media companies or political or religious affiliations.

CEO
  • David  Koopmann

    David Koopman has more than 27 years of management experience in the media industry. He has been a member of the Executive Board of Bremer Tageszeitungen AG since 2019, where he previously headed the Markets, Reader Market & Marketing divisions and the Marketing department, among other things. At the same time, he has been Managing Director of Osterholzer Zeitungsverlag since 2016 and Managing Director of DeichStube GmbH since 2021.

    He began his professional career in 1990 as a project manager at B&P GmbH before moving to Bremer Tageszeitungen AG in 1997. His work focuses on sales management, marketing strategy, and corporate communications.

    Koopman is chairman of the Zeitungsverleger- und Digital Publisher Verband Bremen e.V. (Bremen Newspaper Publishers and Digital Publishers Association) and a member of the board of the BDZV (German Newspaper Publishers Association).
    He is also involved in voluntary work, including as chairman of the Bremen Media Mile Interest Group, as a board member of the Christmas Aid fundraising campaign, and as treasurer of Bremer Leselust e.V.

    He is also a member of the administrative board of the Information Community for Determining the Distribution of Advertising Media e. V. His activities combine in-depth knowledge of the regional media landscape with strategic management experience.

Editor-In-Chief
  • Silke Hellwig

    Silke Hellwig has been editor-in-chief of the Weser-Kurier, Bremer Nachrichten, and Verdener Nachrichten since September 2011.
    She completed her traineeship at the Hessisch-Niedersächsische Allgemeine and has worked for renowned media outlets such as Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Radio Bremen.
    Hellwig attaches great importance to journalistic scrutiny of political power and is a public advocate of non-partisan, investigative regional reporting.

Other Important People
  • Benjamin Piel

    Benjamin Piel has served as co-editor-in-chief of Weser-Kurier since January 1, 2025, alongside editor-in-chief Silke Hellwig. Previously, he headed Mindener Tageblatt for over six years and has been awarded the Theodor Wolff Prize multiple times, serving as a member of its jury.

    As editorial director, Piel focused on digital local and regional journalism. At Weser-Kurier, he promotes innovative formats including a podcast for political debates.

    No information is publicly available regarding family involvement in media companies or political or religious affiliations.

ContactMartinistr. 43
28195 Bremen
Bremen
Germany
info@weser-kurier.de
0421/3671-0
https://www.weser-kurier.de
RevenueMissing Data
Operating ProfitMissing Data
Advertising (in % of total funding)Missing Data
Market ShareMissing Data
Headlines
Meta Data

General company information and ownership structure were taken from the legal notice on the Weser-Kurier website. Sales and financial information was obtained from publicly available company databases such as Northdata and Unternehmensregister.de.
Data gaps: No information on advertising revenue or market share; no breakdown of revenues by business segment.
The Weser-Kurier's official website was primarily used to evaluate the profiles of the owners. If no relevant information was available there, publicly available information from their personal social media profiles was used to supplement the data.
General company information and the ownership structure were taken from the KEK media database.

Sources
Documents (PDF)
  • Konzernabschluss 2023, Bremer Tageszeitungen AG, HRB 8834
    File
  • Wiedergabe des aktuellen Registerinhalts, Bremer Tageszeitungen AG, HRB 8834
    File
  • Ausdruck Handelsregister A, Bremer Tageszeitungen AG, HRB 8834
    File
  • Historischer Abrduck, Bremer Tageszeitungen AG, HRB 8834
    File
  • Wiedergabe des aktuellen Registerinhalts, Hackmack, Meyer KG, HRA 19474 HB
    File
  • Ausdruck Handelsregister A, Hackmack, Meyer KG, HRA 19474 HB
    File
  • Historischer Abdruck, Hackmack, Meyer KG, HRA 19474 HB
    File