Medien Union
Medien Union, based in Ludwigshafen, is one of the largest newspaper publishers in the country. It publishes several regional newspapers, specialised media and holds stakes in radio stations and digital companies. These include Rheinpfalz, Freie Presse and stakes in Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgarter Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Medien Union was founded in 1947 under the name "Rheinpfalz" Verlag und Druckerei-Gesellschaft mbH as the publisher of the Rheinpfalz newspaper. Five founders, above all Josef Schaub, built up the publishing house in the post-war period and the third generation still holds shares in it today. The managing director and majority shareholder is Thomas Schaub, Josef Schaub's grandson.
Business Form
private
Legal Form
Limited liability company (GmbH)
Business Sectors
e-commerce; recruiting services; SaaS services;
Individual Owner
Peter Nagel
Peter Nagel is probably related to Michael Nagel, one of the co-founders of Rheinpfalz. Peter Nagel also holds a 5.1 per cent stake in Rheinpfalz.
Britta Lenk
Britta Lenk is probably related to Arthur Lenk, one of the co-founders of Rheinpfalz. Britta Lenk also holds a 4.9 per cent stake in Rheinpfalz. There are also four other shareholders who share the Lenk surname. Together, the Lenks hold a 20.1 per cent stake.
Other Print Outlets
Freie Presse (1.12); Stuttgarter Zeitung (2.5); Stuttgarter Nachrichten; Eßlinger Zeitung; Freies Wort; Pirmasenser Zeitung
Other Radio Outlets
Radio Regenbogen (0.8); bigFM Baden-Württemberg (0.4); Radyo Metropol FM
Other Online Outlets
Rheinpfalz.de; freiepresse.de; Sueddeutsche.de (0.79); Stuttgarter-Zeitung.de (0.15); Stuttgarter-Nachrichten.de (0.21); Esslinger-Zeitung.de; InSuedThueringen.de
Media Business
Specialist Publishing & E-Commerce
Hans Soldan GmbH (51%)
Specialist publisher
Walhalla u. Praetoria Verlag GmbH & Co. KG (100%)
Bauhelden Media GmbH & Co. KG (100%)
KOSMETIK international Verlag GmbH (100%)
Specialist publisher for textbooks
Westermann GmbH & Co.KG (100%)
Business
Job Exchange
Jobware Online-Service GmbH (100%)
Job exchange
Experteer GmbH (100%)
UniNow GmbH (100%)
Get In GmbH (100%)
SaaS
Retresco GmbH (100%)
Bookingkit GmbH (34%)
Doo GmbH (100%)
Pospulse GmbH (32%)
Information portal
Flightrights GmbH (100%)
Legal Tech
Chevalier Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (100%)
Mobilityright GmbH (100%)
Deutscher Anwaltverlag & Institut der Anwaltschaft GmbH (90%)
Specialist books and legal tech
Hans Soldan GmbH (51%)
Information portal
Flyhjælp ApS (Denmark)
Booking software
Codebay Solutions Limited (England)
General Information
Founding Year
1947
Affiliated Interests Founder
publisher from the Palatinate, founded the Neue Pfälzische Landeszeitung in 1921 and was its deputy managing director when the National Socialists shut down the newspaper and banned Schaub from his profession. After the war, the French occupying forces asked him if he could develop a concept for a newspaper in the West Palatinate. This led to the creation of Rheinpfalz in 1945, which Schaub managed for over 20 years before handing the role over to his son Dieter. Schaub died in 1978.
Employees
3,550 (2022)
Contact
Tax/ ID Number
Midding Data
Financial Information
Revenue (Financial Data/ Optional)
€ 661 Million / USD 694 Million (2022)
Operating Profit (in Mill. $)
€ 36.3 Million / USD 54.5 Million (2022)
Advertising (in % of total funding)
€ 105 Million / USD 110 Million (2022)
Management
Executive Board
Member of a third-generation publishing family, owner of Rheinpfalz, Managing Director of Medien Union GmbH and Chairman of the Editorial Board of Süddeutsche Zeitung. Thomas Schaub was born in 1962 and took over the management of the company from his father Dieter Schaub in 1994. His grandfather, Josef Schaub, was a co-founder of Rheinpfalz and laid the foundations for the Medien Union publishing group.
Managing Director of Medien Union since 2018 Lingnau was previously Managing Director of Freie Presse, which also belongs to Medien Union, for nine years and held various management positions at Axel Springer.
Further Information
Meta Data
Dollar exchange rate 2022 of 1.05 $ for 1 € (2022) used for conversion
The advertising revenues are stated in the consolidated financial statements as ‘printing and advertising revenues’. It remains unclear which revenues are summarised in this item.
Despite a legal obligation, no VAT registration number is given on the Medien Union website.
