Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel (German pronunciation: [deːɐ̯ ˈʃpiːɡl̩], lit. 'The Mirror', stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg.[1] With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022,[2] it is one of the largest such publications in Europe.[3] It was founded in 1947[4][3] by John Seymour Chaloner, a British army officer, and Rudolf Augstein, a former Wehrmacht radio operator who was recognized in 2000 by the International Press Institute as one of the fifty World Press Freedom Heroes.[5]
For the web presence of the magazine, see Der Spiegel (website).Editor-in-Chief
Weekly (on Saturdays)
695,910/ week
Spiegel-Verlag
4 January 1947
Germany
Hamburg
Der Spiegel is known in German-speaking countries mostly for its investigative journalism. It has played a key role in uncovering many political scandals such as the Spiegel affair in 1962 and the Flick affair in the 1980s. According to The Economist, Der Spiegel is one of continental Europe's most influential magazines.[6] The news website by the same name was launched in 1994 under the name Spiegel Online with an independent editorial staff. Today, the content is created by a shared editorial team and the website uses the same media brand as the printed magazine.
Reception[edit]
When Stefan Aust took over in 1994, the magazine's readers realized that his personality was different from his predecessor. In 2005, a documentary by Stephan Lamby quoted him as follows: "We stand at a very big cannon!"[21] Politicians of all stripes who had to deal with the magazine's attention often voiced their disaffection for it. The outspoken conservative Franz Josef Strauss contended that Der Spiegel was "the Gestapo of our time". He referred to journalists in general as "rats".[22] The Social Democrat Willy Brandt called it "Scheißblatt" (i.e., a "shit paper") during his term in office as Chancellor.[23]
Der Spiegel often produces feature-length articles on problems affecting Germany (like demographic trends, the federal system's gridlock or the issues of its education system) and describes optional strategies and their risks in depth.[24][25][26][27][28] The magazine plays the role of opinion leader in the German press.[29]
Bans[edit]
In January 1978 the office of Der Spiegel in East Berlin was closed by the East German government following the publication of critical articles against the conditions in the country.[50] A special 25 March 2008 edition of the magazine on Islam was banned in Egypt in April 2008 for publishing material deemed by authorities to be insulting Islam and Muhammed.[51][52]
Head office[edit]
Der Spiegel began moving into its current head office in HafenCity in September 2011. The facility was designed by Henning Larsen Architects of Denmark. The magazine's offices were previously in a high-rise building with 8,226 square metres (88,540 sq ft) of office space.[53]