Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Lore & Background

The first edition appeared on 1 November 1949; founding editors were Hans Baumgarten, Erich Dombrowski, Karl Korn, Paul Sethe and Erich Welter. Welter acted as editor until 1980. Until 30 September 1950, the FAZ was printed in Mainz. Traditionally, many headlines were styled in blackletter format, and no photographs appeared on the title page.

Some rare exceptions were a picture of celebrating people in front of the Berlin Reichstag on 4 October 1990, and two pictures on 12 September 2001 showing the collapsing World Trade Center and George W. Bush. On 5 October 2007, the FAZ altered its layout to include color photographs on the front page and replaced blackletter typeface outside the nameplate. The paper returned to old spelling on 1 August 2000 after introducing the new spelling in 1999, then accepted a custom version of the new spelling on 1 January 2007.

Reader's Guide

The paper runs its own network of correspondents. Its editorial policy is not determined by a single editor, but cooperatively by four editors. Its political orientation is liberal-conservative.

In the 2013 elections the paper endorsed the CDU/CSU alliance. The company is a GmbH; the independent Fazit-Foundation holds 93.7% of shares. The foundation was created in 1959. The 1993 circulation was 391,013 copies; 2001 circulation was 409,000; 2007 daily edition circulation was 382,499; 2016 daily edition circulation was 256,188.

In 2006, the FAZ was banned in Egypt for articles deemed 'insulting Islam'. In February 2008, it was again banned in Egypt for publishing cartoons depicting Muhammad. In July 2019, the FAZ website was blocked by China's Great Firewall; reasons remain unclear.

Did You Know?

• A digital Fraktur font was ordered for comment headings but later abandoned due to layout change.
• In December 1999, future Chancellor Angela Merkel published an article in the FAZ about the CDU donations scandal.
• The FAZ is produced electronically using IBM NICA software and Unisys Hermes as of 2024.