Neumann publishing house

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The Neumann Verlag in Radebeul was a GDR non-fiction book publisher with a focus on nature, horticulture, regional studies and travelogues.

Predecessor publisher

In 1872 Julius Neumann (1844–1928), typesetter and proofreader in the royal book printing house in Berlin, founded his own publishing house in Neudamm / Neumark , today's Polish city of Dębno in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. After only a local newspaper was published at first , the J. Neumann publishing house began to publish books in 1875. In 1883 the Deutsche Jägerzeitung was added, and the company became a leading publisher in the areas of forestry / forest science , hunting , fishing and natural history .

In 1945, after the death or expulsion of its owners and executives, as well as the loss of all operating resources, the publishing house ceased its activities. By then, around 1,100 book titles and 16 magazines had appeared in Neudamm.

Neumann Verlag Radebeul

After the Second World War, the only surviving partner, Martin Schönbrodt-Rühl (1904–1965), founded the Neumann publishing house in Radebeul, Saxony , in November 1945 (license from SMAD on February 25, 1947). The first to appear was a brochure for home-growing tobacco and a new edition of Konrad Rubner's Neudammer forest textbook , one of the most important publications of the old publisher. In 1948 the publishing house moved from Güterhofstrasse 1 opposite the Radebeul West train station to Villa Dr.-Schmincke-Allee 19 .

In 1958, Neumann Verlag was incorporated into the SED- owned Urania Verlag , but was able to continue to operate independently under its roof. In 1961 a guidebook series was launched, which in the following years should include several hundred titles. In 1964 the publishing house had to hand over the agricultural specialist literature to the Landwirtschaftsverlag and concentrated on leisure literature for gardeners, small animal keepers, aquarists, ornithologists and biologists. Successful authors of this time included the perennial grower Karl Foerster , the zoologist Wolfgang Ullrich , the gardener Christian Grunert and the ethnologist and travel writer Erich Wustmann . In 1964, Franz Böhmig's advice for every garden day appeared for the first time ; With 27 editions up to 2010, perhaps the most successful title in publishing history. The illustrator Hans Preuße worked freelance for the publishing house for 37 years.

After the death of Martin Schönbrodt-Rühl in 1965, his wife Herta Schönbrodt-Rühl took over the management of the publishing house together with Georg Anders. She sold Neumann Verlag in 1975 to Urania Verlag . This made Leipzig the second publishing location alongside Radebeul. In the final phase of the GDR, Neumann employed 12 people. In December 1990 the newly founded Urania publishing company sold Neumann Verlag to the Stuttgart publisher Eugen Ulmer . However, the sale initially encountered resistance from the Berlin Treuhandanstalt , because no review by the Independent Commission to review the assets of the parties and mass organizations of the GDR had taken place. In 1995 Neumann Verlag was completely absorbed by Eugen Ulmer Verlag; in the end only the editorial team of the creative work series had been with Neumann.

Publishing program: first and last titles

  • Tabakanbau- und Tabakverwertungs-Gesellschaft Westsachsen-Döbeln (arrangement): The practice in tobacco cultivation for self-teaching for growers . Radebeul 1946.
  • Karl Müller: Small pig farmer. Instructions for the appropriate keeping and feeding of pigs in small households . Radebeul 1947.
  • Konrad Rubner: Neudammer forest textbook . Radebeul 1948.

...

  • Mechthild Bläute / Friedrich-Karl Schembecker: Nature conservation in the garden. Neumann's advice . Radebeul 1994. ISBN 3-740-20146-0
  • Gerd Ulrich: Hobby winemaker , Radebeul 1995. ISBN 3-740-20153-3
  • Helmut Stiehler / Joachim Saegebarth: Schwerin - Wismar. Northwest Mecklenburg lake and coastal region . Radebeul 1995. ISBN 3-7402-0139-8

J. Neumann-Neudamm publishing house

Former employees also started a new company in the British occupation zone . In 1949 the publishing house J. Neumann-Neudamm and the magazine Deutsche Jägerzeitung were licensed in Lüneburg . In the following year the company's headquarters moved to Melsungen in Hesse .

Like its counterpart in Radebeul, Saxony, the West German publisher specialized in natural history fiction. Both publishers exchanged licenses and cooperated on joint editions. The identification books by Gottfried Amann and Paul Richter on flora , fauna and funga of the forest achieved great success . According to the publisher , Trees and Shrubs of the Forest, first published in 1954, has so far had a total print run of 500,000 copies; the 20th edition appeared in November 2011.

literature

  • Frank Andert (Red.): Radebeul City Lexicon . Historical manual for the Loessnitz . Published by the Radebeul City Archives. 2nd, slightly changed edition. City archive, Radebeul 2006, ISBN 3-938460-05-9 .
  • Christoph Links: The fate of the GDR publishers. Privatization and its consequences , Berlin 2009.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Frank Andert (Red.): Radebeul City Lexicon . Historical manual for the Loessnitz . Published by the Radebeul City Archives. 2nd, slightly changed edition. City archive, Radebeul 2006, ISBN 3-938460-05-9 , p. 142 .
  2. ↑ Christoph Links, p. 239 ff.