Ganske Verlagsgruppe (translated Ganske Publishing Group) is a German publishing holding company consisting of eighteen distinct companies. The group is active mainly in book and magazine publishing with an emphasis on travel, gourmet, lifestyle, and architecture, catering to an upscale market. It has approximately 2,000 employees. The corporate headquarters are based in Hamburg with additional offices in Munich and several other cities.
Licensed versions of the group's magazines as well as corporate publishing products such as the BMW Magazine and the Relais & Chateaux Magazine are published throughout the world.
The group left considerable marks on the German publishing world by starting avantgarde ventures such as the weekly newspaper Die Woche and monthly magazine TEMPO, breeding several well known journalists and experimenting with new styles that later became staples of the journalistic toolbox. Because of the group's upscale portfolio, reputation for innovation and high profitability it has been the target of several unsuccessful takeover attempts.
In 1907, Richard Ganske established the magazine subscription service Lesezirkel daheim in Kiel, thus laying the foundations of today's group of companies, which has been growing steadily ever since. Today, the group is one of the leading quality providers of books, magazines, electronic publishing and media distribution in Germany.
As early as 1938, the Lesezirkel maintained 30 outlets throughout Germany serving 180,000 customers by satisfying their appetite for reading matter. In 1941, Kurt Ganske – the son of the company's founder – invested in the prestigious Hoffmann und Campe Verlag in Hamburg. Nine years later, he took over the remaining shares of the publishing house. This acquisition marked the starting point for constant growth characterized by bestsellers in the book trade as well as by the development of new brand-shaping magazines in the Jahreszeiten Verlag. After his father's death in 1979, Thomas Ganske, today's owner, took on responsibility for the entire group. Step by step, Thomas Ganske has restructured the company since 1990. In 2001, these measures resulted in setting up the Ganske Verlagsgruppe as a holding company of which he himself became chief executive officer. The holding company is directed at further advancing the integration and management of the individual companies. It is to develop joint group strategies and brand presentations and to promote the consistent use of synergy potentials. Securing the independence of the company by way of economic strength and facilitating the process of internationalization remain to be the primary objectives of the media enterprise.
Book Publishing
Magazine Publishing (Jahreszeiten Verlag)
Electronic Publishing
Distribution / Retail / Hotel