Kopp publishing house

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Kopp Verlag e. K.

logo
legal form registered merchant
Seat Rottenburg am Neckar , GermanyGermanyGermany 
management Jochen Kopp
Number of employees about 60 (2016)
sales around 10 million euros (2016)
Branch media
Website www.kopp-verlag.de

The office wing of the publishing house in Rottenburg, north side
The publishing house in Rottenburg south side with the logistics wing

The Kopp Verlag e. K. is a German media publisher and mail order company based in Rottenburg am Neckar . The business owner is Jochen Kopp as a registered businessman . The publisher sells its own and third-party books and other media on social and political topics. He leads u. a. Right-wing esoteric , borderline and pseudoscientific , conspiracy-theoretical as well as right-wing populist and right-wing extremist titles. As a mail order company, products from the areas of wellness , outdoor equipment, survival and self-protection are sold .

profile

publishing company

The publishing house was founded by the former police officer Jochen Kopp from Stuttgart. According to its own information, the publisher sends “between 10,000 and 25,000 books per day” and has around 60 employees.

Among other things, books in the categories Pre-Astronautics , Ufology , Invented Middle Ages , Creationism , Astrology , Geomancy and Germanic mythology , Islamism , free economics and so-called “ Gender & Gender Mainstreaming ” are distributed.

According to his own account, he wants to use his publications to “draw attention to suppressed information, discoveries and inventions” and “draw the public's attention to [...] topics [...] that are being over-reported” and thereby “divert attention from much more important reports”. He also claims to investigate "taboo subjects, political correctness and censorship" in society and the media.

In addition, an eight-page magazine is published exclusively with Kopp .

Kopp online

With Kopp Online, the publisher maintained an Internet portal with the subtitle “Information that opens your eyes”. In addition to articles by own authors, videos were also published there in the form of a news program until 2011, which covered the publisher's range of topics in terms of content. Eva Herman , Roland Kieber and initially Hakim-Michael Meziani took turns as moderators .

Eva Herman published in Kopp Online that during the mass panic at the Love Parade 2010, “possibly […] completely different forces also intervened”, “to finally put an end to the shameless hustle and bustle. As for that, one can only breathe a sigh of relief. It's horrible, however, that such an accident had to come first. ”In the spring of 2011, Udo Ulfkotte spread the thesis that the EHEC epidemic had been triggered by oriental harvest workers who would specifically bring their faeces into contact with the harvested food in this way to lead a “fecal jihad” against German consumers. Gerhard Wisnewski speculated on Kopp Online about Michelle Obama's transsexuality or a false flag action by the US secret services in the terrorist attacks in Paris and New York. The authors are not Islamists, but rather “tools of American global strategy” in order to be able to lead a “clash of civilizations”, which also includes the “suddenly appeared” Pegida movement. In other places, however, the Pegida was sympathized. In 2016, it was alleged that refugees landed en masse with flights from south-eastern Europe (according to the report, only chartered for this purpose ) at German airports at night. The owner Jochen Kopp said that his authors were “free of their views”, that he valued “critical spirits”, and that the terms “right-wing populist” or “conspiracy theory” were used as a “murder argument to discredit dissenters across the board”.

In April 2017, the editorial section of Kopp Online was closed. The publisher named economic problems as the reason.

Kopp Online will be continued as a Kopp Report .

Product range

In addition to his own books and media, Kopp also sells selected products from other publishers that fit into his subject area, such as B. the German national publishers such as Ares , Pour-le-merite- or Grabert-Verlag , which is considered to be the "standard publisher of Holocaust deniers ". In general, Kopp Verlag customers can purchase all of the approx. Two million titles and articles available in Germany through the bar assortment and the VLB . After the anti-Semitic forgery and inflammatory writing of the so-called Protocols of the Elders of Zion was indexed in Germany in 2001, Kopp took the multi-volume work "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion - Fulfilled!" From the Duracher Schmid-Verlag, composed by Johannes Rothkranz from pieces of the original, into it Sales program and advertised it with the description: “The correspondence between what has been planned and what has been achieved today is almost perfect!” Even politically inconspicuous media can be ordered and delivered via the e-commerce platforms of the book trade. In addition, Kopp supplies the Prepper - and Survival scene with various guidebooks and products such as pepper spray , belt knife, Tactical Pen , telescopic baton , stun guns , self-defense shield, stab-resistant vest, ballistic vest , respirators , NBC protective clothing , backpacks camouflage, grave & Go Emergency Kit - 72 hours ( Escape baggage), water conditioners or long-term food such as the 10 year long “ Panzer biscuits ”, which are offered alongside books that warn of the alleged ongoing destabilization of Europe and the currency systems. Furthermore, special purses, belt pouches, protective covers, etc. equipped with a shielding fabric are offered, which are intended to prevent the reading of RFID chips embedded in account cards, ID cards and passports . There are also similarly prepared protective covers for cell phones, smartphones and tablets , which are intended to prevent any radio contact with the outside world in order to make it impossible to create a movement profile. Furthermore, dietary supplements are offered which, according to research by the SWR, are partly harmful to health.

Kopp congresses

On October 1st and 2nd, 2016, the Kopp Verlag hosted the “First Big Kopp Congress” in the town hall in Leinfelden-Echterdingen ; a participation card cost 150 euros. Numerous Kopp authors were invited as speakers, including a. Michael Brückner , Andreas von Bülow , Erich von Däniken , Thomas Mehner , Armin Risi , Hans Tolzin, Claus W. Turtur, Udo Ulfkotte , Willy Wimmer and Gerhard Wisnewski . Author Markus Gärtner moderated the event .

Press representatives were not welcome at the congress. The event was in the satirical magazine Extra 3 of NDR television appreciated.

On October 29, 2016, the publishing house held another congress in Augsburg , this time on the subject of geopolitics . The speakers were Udo Ulfkotte , Wolfgang Effenberger , F. William Engdahl , Peter Orzechowski and Daniele Ganser .

Sponsorship

Until the end of the 2017 season , Kopp Verlag was a sponsor of the Bundesliga volleyball team of TV Rottenburg .

reception

The publisher initially received media attention in 2010 due to a request from Rita Haller-Haid (SPD), member of the state parliament . In this context, the work of Eva Herman was also mentioned. According to Haller-Haid, “the list of questionable authors from the right-wing scene [...] can be continued for a long time.” At the same time, Stefan Kaiser admitted on Spiegel Online that even Euro-critical “serious” authors published in Kopp Verlag, such as the "established professors Joachim Starbatty , Wilhelm Nölling , Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider and Dieter Spethmann " who became known through multiple constitutional complaints ; in addition, the boundaries between right and left would increasingly “blur”.

Media / science

In 2010, Kopp described the world as a “small but broadcast-conscious” publisher and a “ company specializing in esotericism, conspiracy theories and disinformation ”. “Ufologists and conspiracy theorists” have not only known the name “since he published Eva Herman's new bestseller”. According to the Schwäbisches Tagblatt, his offer ranges “from UFO theories about the ' Germanic New Medicine ' of the self-proclaimed miracle healer Geerd Hamer to alleged revelatory stories about the 'communist background of the eco-movement ' or the ' Islamization ' of the West”. The Taz wrote that "more or less subliminal anti-Semitism is part of the good form" on the Kopp Verlag website .

The community work of Evangelical Journalism wrote in a 2010 article that the list of authors of the Kopp Verlag reads like a “who's who of German conspiracy literature”, including some authors “close to right- wing and esoteric ideas” who “in the right Scene like to be received ”. Books by Jan Udo Holey , whose works are “interspersed with right-wing esotericism ”, are also being sold.

At the beginning of 2015, Johannes Pennekamp and Patrick Bernau named Kopp Verlag in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) as part of a growing “fear industry”. In 2014, Spiegel Online also stated that the publisher's business model was based on stirring up fear ; the author named titles such as nightmare immigration , the scenario of a third world war , pension plan for national bankruptcy , expropriation and civil war and summed up: “With its mixture of right-wing populism, criticism of capitalism and taboo-breaking attitude, the Kopp-Verlag is something like the pioneer of the current counter-zeitgeist - a spirit that is directed against an alleged political correctness of the established media landscape, because it supposedly constantly suppresses some truth. "

In the FAZ, awareness of the mission (“mission”) and the additional activities such as the congresses and the will to “influence political discussions” - Jochen Kopp alone determines the content and strategy in the individual company .

The right-wing extremism expert Matthias Quent is of the opinion that it is part of “freedom of expression to be able to write and say completely idiotic things”. In this respect, the publications from Kopp Verlag are “naturally part of the freedom of expression”. However, the publisher works “with the claim that there is no freedom of expression, that reality is being manipulated”. This is "a mass production for sales". The publisher has “clear points of reference in the right-wing and right-wing radical milieu” and would “participate in the delegitimization of democracy with its publishing program”. In addition, the publisher is “a challenge to an open democracy because it questions the basic pillars of what an enlightened society is based on. The science, the facts, the factual orientation. None of that counts. "

defense of Constitution

Due to a small request from the SPD member of the state parliament Rita Haller-Haid in the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg , it became known in December 2015 that the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Protection of the Constitution checks the publisher at regular intervals based on publicly available publications. However , according to the answer from the Ministry of the Interior of Baden-Württemberg, there were no sufficient factual indications for efforts by the publisher against the free democratic basic order . A systematic and intelligence service observation of the publisher is therefore not justified. Overall, it shows that the current range of publishers only includes a few books that are published by right-wing extremist publishers or come from right-wing extremist authors. These writings used "naturally right-wing extremist and anti-Semitic argumentation models". The books, which are used in the public discussion as evidence of a right-wing extremist orientation of the publisher, are "usually freely available in bookshops and can also be obtained from a large number of other providers on the Internet."

Negative awards

The publisher received negative awards with the 2014 Golden Board , awarded by the Society for the Scientific Investigation of Parasciences , and the 2015 Golden Aluhut , awarded by Silberberger & Schulze GbR due to the spread of conspiracy theories and pseudosciences .

Authors

The Kopp Verlag publishes a. a. Publications by the following authors:

literature

  • Ulrike Heß-Meining: Right-Wing Esotericism in Europe . In: Uwe Backes , Patrick Moreau (Eds.): The Extreme Right in Europe. Current Trends and Perspectives (= writings of the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism . Vol. 46). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen u. a. 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-36922-7 , pp. 383-408, here p. 402 f.
  • Anna Hunger: Well networked - the Kopp publishing house and the dazzling right-wing publicist scene . In: Stephan Braun , Alexander Geisler, Martin Gerster (eds.): Strategies of the extreme right: Backgrounds - Analyzes - Answers . 2nd updated and expanded edition, Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-01983-9 , p. 425 ff.
  • Rüdiger Soldt: On the home planet for right-wing extremists ufologists. The Kopp publishing house grew up with UFO books. Then came the refugee crisis. Since then, cosmologists, right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists have gathered around the publisher . In: FAZ-Net, February 23, 2017. Online here [1]

Web links

Commons : Kopp Verlag  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Rüdiger Soldt: Kopp-Verlag: On the home planet for right-wing extremists ufologists. In: FAZ.NET , February 23, 2017, accessed on June 7, 2020. “Around 60 people are employed here, and the publisher says it sends up to 25,000 books per day. He brings out five to ten new books a month, and annual sales are around ten million euros. "
  2. ↑ a b Anna Hunger: Bridge to the right in: Context issue 160, 26./27. April 2014, pp. 1–2.
  3. ↑ a b c d e The fear industry , FAZ from January 17, 2015.
  4. ↑ Gender & Society on kopp-verlag.de
  5. ↑ The goal of Kopp Verlag ( Memento from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) on kopp-verlag.de
  6. ↑ Kopp exclusive
  7. ↑ For Eva Herman, Love Parade is an "orgy" , WAZ.de on July 26, 2010
  8. ^ Hete Henning: Draft Horse Eva Herman - What the Rottenburger Kopp-Verlag is doing, publishing portrait, Schwäbisches Tagblatt , August 15, 2010.
  9. ↑ a b c Conspiracy theories: The business with fear , Spiegel Online from May 22, 2015.
  10. ↑ Conspiracy Theory: Right- wing People Fear Nocturnal "Refugee Flyers " in Germany , bento, August 17, 2016
  11. ^ Kopp-Verlag - No donations, no news , DRadio Wissen, accessed on April 20, 2017.
  12. ↑ Anna Hunger: Well networked - The Kopp publishing house and the dazzling right-wing journalist scene. In: Stephan Braun, Alexander Geisler, Martin Gerster (eds.): Strategies of the extreme right: Backgrounds - Analyzes - Answers. 2nd updated and expanded edition, Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-01983-9 , p. 429
  13. ↑ Anna Hunger: Well networked - The Kopp publishing house and the dazzling right-wing journalist scene. In: Stephan Braun, Alexander Geisler, Martin Gerster (eds.): Strategies of the extreme right: Backgrounds - Analyzes - Answers. 2nd updated and expanded edition, Springer Fachmedien, Wiesbaden 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-01983-9 , p. 429
  14. ↑ Paul Simon: Due to current events - The truth about treason , Concrete 8/2016
  15. ↑ Gabriela Keller: "Prepper" scene in Germany: The crisis can come , Die Tageszeitung from January 15, 2017
  16. ↑ a b Der Kopp Verlag in Rottenburg - Hetze, Angst, Konspirungsmythen , SWR2, December 9, 2019 ( Multimedia , Audio 24.9 MB (MP3) )
  17. ^ Anne Waak: Aliens, Vaccination & Co .: What conspiracy theorists really think. www.welt.de, October 10, 2016
  18. ↑ Anja Rützel : Most serious general uncertainty. In: Spiegel Online . Der Spiegel , October 3, 2016, accessed on October 7, 2016 (paywall).
  19. ↑ Jakob Leube, Tobias Döll: The little man at the congress of the Kopp publishing house. In: Extra 3 . NDR television , October 5, 2016, accessed on October 7, 2016 ( NDR - YouTube ).
  20. ↑ Moritz Tschernak: Be afraid! In: Übermedien. Stefan Niggemeier , October 4, 2016, accessed October 7, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Rüdiger Soldt: On the home planet for right-wing extremists ufologists . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , February 23, 2017, accessed on September 29, 2018.
  22. ↑ Concentration on the sporty , message on the website of the Volleyball Bundesliga from February 9, 2017
  23. ^ Publishing house in the focus of the protection of the constitution , view to the right from November 13, 2015, accessed on December 18, 2015.
  24. ^ Eva Hermans fight against the Love Parade , Die Welt from July 26, 2010.
  25. ↑ Eva Herman and the "Clouds of Entfesselung" , Die Welt, July 27, 2010.
  26. ↑ I Know Things You Would Never Believe , Die Welt, accessed November 27, 2014.
  27. ↑ Free riders of the Love Parade disaster , Schwäbisches Tagblatt dated July 28, 2010.
  28. ↑ Christoph Baumgarten: Weblog The axis of the good: sharply turned right. taz.de, August 25, 2016
  29. ↑ Eva Herman and the right-wing ufologists , evangelisch.de of the community work of Protestant journalism from July 26, 2010.
  30. ↑ Judith Brosel, Moritz Kluthe, Christian Kretschmer, Thomas Simon: Kopp Verlag: "Enlightenment" with agitation, anxiety and conspiracy myths. www.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, January 7, 2020
  31. ↑ State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg: Printed matter 15/7467 of October 2, 2015.
  32. ↑ The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is checking Rottenburger Verlag - Rechts oder Rechtsens , swr.de, October 30, 2015.
  33. ^ Golden aluminum hat for Kopp-Verlag and Xavier Naidoo , Augsburger Allgemeine from October 26, 2015.
  34. ↑ Prize for Gaga Research: Who's the Dumbest in the Country? , Spiegel Online from October 31, 2015.