Wiener Zeitung
Wiener Zeitung is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the Wiennerisches Diarium in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023,[1] it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria for legally-required announcements, such as company registrations[2] and was also the official publishing body for laws and executive orders until 2004.[3]
Type
- Biweekly newspaper (1703–1813)
- Daily newspaper (1813–1940, 1945–2023)
- Monthly newspaper (planned)
Government of Austria, represented by the Chancellor
Katharina Schmidt & Sebastian Pumberger (interim)
8 August 1703 (as Wiennerisches Diarium)
Austria
Considered a newspaper of record,[4] as of 2002, Wiener Zeitung was among the four Austrian daily quality newspapers beside the right-liberal Die Presse, the left-liberal Der Standard and the Christian-liberal and conservative Salzburger Nachrichten.[5] The newspaper ended its daily print edition on 30 June 2023. It will continue to operate online and distribute a monthly print edition, the details of which are yet to be announced as of July 2023.[1][6]
History and profile[edit]
1703–1856: Founding and private ownership[edit]
Johann Baptist Schönwetter received an privilegium impressorium for a weekly newspaper on 10 January 1702.[7] Launched as Wiennerisches Diarium, the newspaper's first issue was published on 8 August 1703. The title page described the paper as "contain[ing] everything notable which occurs from day to day in this town of Vienna, as well as in other places all over the world", including death notices in the city and aristocratic births, marriages, and visits to and departures from Vienna.[8][9] Schönwetter owned the newspaper and was its editor-in-chief and printer until 1722, when he was succeeded by Johann Peter van Ghelen.[7]
It became considered the official mouthpiece of the Imperial Court due to its being supplied information directly and exclusively by the Court. The paper was published bi-weekly, usually running around eight pages in length. Supplements and other extensive reports were published during war time, mainly about Austria, the Franco-Austrian Alliance, and their mutual enemy Prussia. Field journals and diaries from the Austrian army were the main sources used by the paper, reporting on officer promotions, troop deployments and other public announcements pertaining to the war, mostly of local interest. Around 15 per cent of reports were about battles and armed conflicts while 3 per cent were about war crimes committed by Prussian troops.[10]
Since 1780, the paper was known as Wiener Zeitung (meaning Viennese newspaper in English) and in 1810 it became the official government newspaper.[11] On 1 October 1813, it began publishing daily.[12]