Publisher Melantrich
The Melantrich publishing house (Czech: Nakladatelství Melantrich ) was the largest Czech book, magazine and newspaper publisher in the first half of the 20th century . It existed from 1897 to 1999.
history
The publishing cooperative was founded in 1897 on the initiative of Václav Klofáč under the name Knihtiskárna národně sociálního dělnictva ("Printing House of National Social Workers"). She was associated with Klofáčs Česká strana národně sociální (ČSNS; Czech National Social Party). From 1901 the printing house produced the newspaper Česká demokracie ("Czech Democracy"), published by Klofáč and ČSNS . However, this was hardly spread and was discontinued. Jaroslav Šalda (1880–1965), who headed the bookkeeping of the publishing cooperative from 1905, initiated a new daily newspaper in 1907 - in the run-up to the Reichsrat election : České slovo ("Czech word"). This was so successful that the publishing house bought the Hvězda ("Star") building on Wenceslas Square in Prague in 1910 and named it after the Bohemian printer Georg Melantrich von Aventine (1511–1580). The name Melantrich was also transferred to the publisher itself. The publishing house was rebuilt and expanded in 1913 according to plans by the Art Nouveau architect Bedřich Bendelmayer .
After the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Melantrich and České slovo represented the so-called castle line, that is, they supported the policy of President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk . The publisher and newspaper remained connected to Klofáč's party, which in the meantime was renamed Československá strana (národně) socialistická (Czechoslovak People's Socialist Party) - but the opinions of the party leader and the publisher's director did not always have to agree. From 1924 to 1945, Jaroslav Šalda was the central director of Melantrich-Aktiengesellschaft, the largest publishing group in the country. In addition to the reputable national daily newspaper České slovo , Melantrich also published the tabloids A-Zet and Večerní Slovo (“Abendwort”), Telegraf , and a number of weekly newspapers and magazines, such as Pražský ilustrovaný zpravodaj , in the 1920s and 30s (“Prague Illustrated Rapporteur”), Hvězda českých paní a dívek (“Star of Czech Women and Girls”), STAR , Eva , Mladý hlasatel (“The young speaker”). The Melantrich brand became a symbol of national pride, national thinking and a sign of cultivating the Czech language and feeling at home. The literary critic Bedřich Fučík was the director of the Melantrich publishing house from 1929 to 1939.
After the Wehrmacht invaded Czechoslovakia and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was established in March 1939, the German occupiers took control of the press. In September 1939, almost the entire editorial staff of “České slovo” was arrested. The newspapers were brought into line , they could only information from the German press service as well as statements by the Nazi leadership publish in Prague.
After 1945 the newspaper "České slovo" was renamed "Svobodné slovo" (Eng. "Free Word" ) and was run by the legendary editor-in-chief Ivan Herben . In 1946 regional editions were added and the newspaper was able to increase its circulation again significantly. He also founded the new weekly newspaper "Svobodný zítřek" (The free morning), which, under the leadership of editor-in-chief Luděk Stranský, had a circulation of millions. Both printed matter became the basis of post - war anti - communism under the rule of the National Front (Národní Fronta).
After the February revolution in 1948, the government of President Gottwald put an end to the economic activity of the communists' greatest opponent in the press world. The publishing house was broken up into a real estate company with the building on Wenceslas Square, a printing house and a publishing house.
Unification did not succeed after the velvet revolution either . Due to the high printing costs and rents, the publisher's newspapers and magazines lost millions each year, and the circulation also fell. Since 1990 a number of editors-in-chief have changed, the newspaper “Svobodné slovo” was sold to Chemapol , which changed the name to “Slovo” (the word) and went bankrupt after two years .
“Slovo” was sold at the end of 1998 to the German Mittelrhein-Verlag , which also publishes the Zemské noviny (national newspaper) in the Czech Republic . He fired ninety percent of the editors and relocated the editorial staff to "Římská ulice" (Roman Street) in Prague. The newspaper was discontinued in 2001. The Melantrich house was auctioned off in 1999.
Individual evidence
- ^ Vojtěch Dolejší: Noviny a novináři. Nakl. Politické literatury, 1963, p. 68.
- ↑ Detlef Brandes: The Czechoslovak National Socialists. In: Karl Bosl (ed.): The first Czechoslovak Republic as a multinational party state. 1979, pp. 101-154, here p. 148.
- ↑ Lucyna Darowska: Resistance and Biography. The resistance practice of the Prague journalist Milena Jesenská against National Socialism. Transcript, Bielefeld 2012, p. 316.
- ↑ German Empire and Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia October 1943 - 1945. Published on behalf of the Federal Archives, the Institute for Contemporary History Munich-Berlin, the Chair for Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Freiburg and the Chair for the History of East Central Europe at the East European Institute of the Free University of Berlin. Edited by Andrea Löw. Munich 2012, pp. 638–639.