Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The 17 September 2010 front page
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Nordisch
Owner(s)	Fazit-Stiftung
Publisher	Carsten Knop Berthold Kohler Jürgen Kaube Gerald Braunberger
Founded	1 November 1949; 75 years ago (1949-11-01)
Political alignment	Liberal conservatism Conservative liberalism Centre-right Pro-CDU/CSU
Language	German
Headquarters	Frankfurt, Germany
Circulation	201,408 (Print, 2021) 56,000 (Digital, 2020)
ISSN	0174-4909

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (often called FAZ) is a well-known German newspaper. It was started in 1949 and is published every day in Frankfurt. Its Sunday edition is called the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAS).

The FAZ has its own team of reporters all around the world. Unlike many newspapers, its main ideas and direction are decided by four editors working together, not just one person.

History of the FAZ

Konrad Adenauer reading the FAZ in 1961

The very first issue of the FAZ came out on November 1, 1949. Its first editors included Hans Baumgarten, Erich Dombrowski, Karl Korn, Paul Sethe, and Erich Welter. Erich Welter was an editor until 1980.

Some of these editors had worked for another newspaper, the Frankfurter Zeitung, which was stopped in 1943. However, the FAZ editors made it clear in their first issue that they were not trying to be a copy or a follow-up to the old paper.

They wrote:

Some people think we are trying to be the next Frankfurter Zeitung because some of our team worked there before. This is not our goal. We admire that newspaper's high quality, but respecting a great achievement does not mean we want to copy it.

—FAZ Editorial board

Until September 30, 1950, the FAZ was printed in Mainz.

For a long time, the FAZ used a special old-fashioned German writing style called blackletter for many of its headlines. Also, there were usually no photos on the front page. A few rare times, they did show pictures. For example, on October 4, 1990, they showed people celebrating in front of the Berlin Reichstag for German Unity Day. On September 12, 2001, after the September 11 attacks, they showed the collapsing World Trade Center and American president George W. Bush.

In the early 2000s, the FAZ tried to grow bigger. They added special sections for cities like Berlin and Munich. They also had an English version that was put inside The International Herald Tribune. This English version had articles chosen and translated from the main German newspaper. However, the FAZ group lost money in 2002. By 2004, they stopped the special city sections. The English edition also became much smaller, only coming out once a week.

On October 5, 2007, the FAZ changed its traditional look. They started putting color photos on the front page. They also stopped using the blackletter style for headlines, except for the newspaper's name itself. Because the FAZ was known for its very serious look, adding color photos was a big change that many readers talked about.

The FAZ uses special computer programs to create the newspaper. For its unique comment headlines, they used to have a special digital Fraktur font. This font is no longer used because of the layout changes.

In 1999, the FAZ started using the new spelling rules for German. But exactly one year later, they went back to the old spelling. They said the new rules didn't help people learn the language better. After some changes were made to the new spelling rules, the FAZ finally accepted them and started using them (with their own small adjustments) on January 1, 2007.

In December 1999, Angela Merkel, who later became the German Chancellor, wrote an article in the FAZ. She talked about the problems her political party (CDU) was facing and suggested that the party needed to take a new direction.

What the FAZ Believes In

The FAZ generally supports liberal and conservative ideas. However, it also allows writers with different viewpoints to share their opinions.

In the 2013 elections, the newspaper supported the CDU/CSU alliance (a group of political parties).

Who Owns the FAZ

The company that owns the FAZ is called a GmbH, which is a type of company with limited liability. Most of the shares (93.7%) are owned by an independent group called the Fazit-Stiftung Gemeinnützige Verlagsgesellschaft mbH [de] (Fazit-Foundation).

The Fazit-Foundation was created in 1959. It is 'owned' by a small group of up to nine people. These people cannot sell their share. Instead, they pass it on to a new person chosen by the other members. The foundation's rules say that new members must be people who can make sure the FAZ stays independent. This group often includes active or former business leaders and lawyers. The foundation also owns other companies, like a printing business and a regional newspaper.

How Many Copies Are Printed

Former Editorial department building of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

The F.A.Z. is one of several important national newspapers in Germany. Others include Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Welt, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Rundschau, and Die Tageszeitung. In 2011, the FAZ had 40 foreign reporters working for it.

In 1993, about 391,013 copies of the paper were printed. In 2001, this number grew to 409,000 copies. By 2016, the daily edition printed about 256,188 copies.

Times the FAZ Was Banned

In 2006, the FAZ was banned in Egypt. This happened because it published articles that were seen as "insulting Islam." In February 2008, the paper was banned in Egypt again for showing cartoons of Muhammad.

In July 2019, the FAZ website, along with other big German news sites, was blocked in China by the country's Great Firewall. The reasons for this ban were not completely clear. However, the FAZ thought it might be because they reported on the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.

Notable Contributors

See also

In Spanish: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung para niños

• List of newspapers in Germany
• Media of Germany