Joseph Gottsleben

Joseph Gottsleben (born January 19, 1822 in Mainz ; † August 30, 1888 there ) was a German printer and newspaper publisher in Mainz. From 1853 he published the first daily newspaper in Mainz, which in 1854 became the Mainzer Anzeiger . This was the dominant Mainz newspaper until well into the post-war period .

Life

Family and education

Joseph Gottsleben was born in Mainz as the son of crane operator Ludwig Joseph Gottsleben. In 1836 he learned that at the printer by Florian Kupferberg printing trade . After completing his apprenticeship, he worked in various printing companies outside of Mainz from 1841. Joseph Gottsleben was married and had a daughter, Christina, in addition to his son Johann Baptist. On December 1, 1884, Joseph Gottsleben withdrew from business life and transferred the printing works to his son Johann Baptist Gottsleben, born in 1860. Four years later, Joseph Gottsleben died in Mainz.

Print shop owner and newspaper publisher

In 1848 Gottsleben returned to his hometown to set up his own print shop. As a result of the political crisis of the revolutionary years of 1848/1849 , however, the administration did not grant him a license , as it was feared that God would be politically active. In the context of the liberalization that took place in 1849, Gottsleben no longer required official permission to set up his own printing company, which took place in Steingasse in 1850.

In June of the same year, Gottsleben founded the Daily Street Gazette, an advertising paper for Mainz. Three years later, on May 1, 1853, Joseph Gottsleben added a news section and an entertainment section to this paper. This publication, which was expanded into a newspaper, was renamed the Daily Anzeiger . Gottsleben writes in the first edition of the Daily Gazette about the task of the newspaper: The Daily Gazette brings original and other stories, novellas, poems, miscelles, arithmetic and riddles, features for theater and concert. Daily a short and concise compilation of the day's events, bid price, grain, oil, bread, meat and brandy wine prices. Submissions of general interest will find free recordings.

A year later, Gottsleben renamed his newspaper again. The Daily Anzeiger became the Mainzer Anzeiger . The newspaper was to appear under this name from 1854 to 1947, after which it would be continued as the (Mainzer) Allgemeine Zeitung . From 1877, the Mainzer Anzeiger was given an extensive supplement with Der Hausfreund every Sunday .

Expansion of the print shop

Due to the steadily increasing number of prints and the increasing popularity of the newspaper in Mainz, Gottsleben was able to expand its print shop several times, for example by purchasing CO Koehler's lithographic printing shop in 1871. After Johann Baptist Gottsleben had to relinquish the management of the family printing shop due to illness in 1897, the printing shop became J. Gottsleben united with the Florian Kupferberg printing house. The Aktiengesellschaft Mainzer Verlagsanstalt und Druckerei AG, formerly J. Gottsleben and Fl. Copper mountain .

Political activity

Joseph Gottsleben was a staunch supporter of the People's Party . This political orientation became clear again and again in the Mainzer Anzeiger and, in connection with the influence of the popular newspaper on the opinion-forming of the Mainz population, led to multiple conflicts with the authorities as well as fines and imprisonment for Gottsleben. In 1866 the Mainzer Anzeiger even had to be temporarily suspended due to conflicts with the press law.

literature

• Georg Lehnert: Joseph Gottsleben, book printer owner and newspaper publisher, 1822–1888. In: Hessian biographies. Darmstadt, Vol. 1 (1912), pp. 231-232.
• Heike Kornfeld: The development of the printing industry in Mainz: from the beginning of the 19th century to the outbreak of the First World War (1816–1914). Contributions to the history of the city of Mainz , Volume 31, 1999, ISBN 3-924708-22-3 .

Web links

• Biography Joseph Gottsleben - gottsleben-genealogie.de