Sales 2023: € 2.921 billion

Overview

Hubert Burda Media consists of three operational divisions each with several Profit centers: Consumer Media (international media and publishing business), B2B Media Services (B2B services), Commerce (Internet activities in e-commerce and travel, investment business in digital companies). Burda is active in Germany and 11 other countries with around 500 products.

General Information

Headquarters:
Hubert Burda Media Holding Kommanditgesellschaft
Hubert-Burda-Platz 1
77652 Offenburg 
Germany
Telephone: 0049 781 84-01
website: burda.com/de

Arabellastraße 23 
81925 Munich 
Germany
Telephone: 0049 89 9250-0 

Branches of trade: Magazines, broadcasting, websites, printing, direct marketing
Legal form: limited partnership
Financial year: 01.01. – 31.12.
Founding year: 1903

Economic basic data (in million €)

	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
Total sales	2.748	2.921	2.945	2.744	2.790	2.664
Employees	10.000	10.500	10.500	10.500	—	12.369

Executives and Directors

Board:

• Dr. Marc Al-Hames
• Holger Eckstein, Finance, Services & HR
• Dr. Katharina Herrmann
• Philipp Welte, Media Brands National

Board of Directors:

• Olaf Koch, Chairman
• Dr. Andreas Rittstieg, Deputy Chairman
• Dr. Jacob Burda
• Elisabeth Furtwängler
• Alexander Kudlich
• Dr. Ulrike Handel
• Dr. Andreas Rittstieg
  

History and Profile

The history of what is now Germany's sixth-largest media group goes back to a printing company founded in 1903 by Franz Burda I (1873-1929) in Philippsburg (Karlsruhe district). In 1926, his son, 23-year-old Franz Burda II (1903-1986), joined the printing company, which had been moved to Offenburg in 1908. At the same time, Burda studied law and political science and in 1927 published the first magazine "Sürag", an abbreviation for Süddeutsche Rundfunk AG, a new type of radio magazine. At the end of 1933, "Sürag", the predecessor of "Bild und Funk", had a circulation of 100,000 copies; in 1935, Franz Burda earned his first million.

During the Nazi era, Burda came to terms with the system, emphasizing the National Socialist orientation of his company on April 2, 1933. In 1934, he joined the NSK (National Socialist Motor Corps), profited from Aryanization, and was able to buy a Jewish printing company cheaply in September 1938 (the "takeover of the then most modern and largest German printing company, Gebrüder Bauer in Mannheim," quote from: Research project on the "History of the Burda Company in the 20th Century," Cultural Studies Institute in Essen). Burda had been a member of the NSDAP since October 1, 1938, and during the Second World War the company printed maps for the Wehrmacht and aerial photographs in multi-colored gravure for the Luftwaffe. Hubert Burda later said of his father: Franz Burda was "a careerist, a follower." "If it hadn't been for Aenne, he would certainly have let himself be seduced." Anna Magdalene “Aenne” Burda (1909-2005), Offenburg locomotive driver’s daughter, Franz Burda’s wife since 1931.

After the end of the war, Burda was able to print school books, stamps and a soldiers' newspaper. In 1949 he received the license for "Das Haus", and "Sürag" was also allowed to be published again. Then the French occupation authorities commissioned him to develop an illustrated magazine: "Das Ufer" was created, renamed "Bunte Illustrierte" in 1954, which in turn was first published under the short name "Bunte" in July 1972. In the 1950s and 1960s, the paper developed into one of the most widely read German general interest magazines and was the basis for Burda's expansion.

While Aenne Burda became a successful publisher with the pattern publishing house “Burda Moden” (first published in 1950, renamed “burda style” in 2009) (she was also called the “queen of dresses” or “woman of the economic miracle”), Franz Burda bought magazines: in 1960, for example, the “Münchner Illustrierte”, which was integrated into “Bunte”. In 1962, he bought the majority of the Neue Verlags-Gesellschaft, known for the magazines “Freundin” and “Film Revue”, and the Bambi film award; in 1963, the “Frankfurter Illustrierte”, which was also integrated into “Bunte” (and then called “Bunte Münchner Frankfurter Illustrierte”); in 1970, the “Freizeit-Revue”, with which Burda earned the most money after “Bunte”. In 2010, the SZ newspaper headlined: “The mysterious success of the ‘Freizeit-Revue’. The world of the press as Franz Burda saw it: 40 years ago he brought the ‘Freizeit-Revue’ to the Germans – with fates and mysteries it became the secret king of profits.” Franz Burda, an old-style patriarch who never questioned his political views of the 1930s, was senator (the Technical University of Karlsruhe had appointed him an honorary senator in 1950). Nevertheless: "Franz Burda created one of the largest printing and publishing houses in the Federal Republic from the three-man printing shop. He was a visionary and one of the fathers of the German economic miracle." (Quote from Burda's homepage) In 1983 he took over 24.9 percent of the Axel Springer publishing house before he died in September 1986.

The two older of his three sons, Franz junior (or Franz III, 1932-2017) and Frieder (1936-2019), who had taken care of the printing, technology and finances of the publishing house, were awarded distribution companies, paper factories and the Springer share package (which they sold to the publisher's widow Friede Springer in 1988) after a "bitter war of succession" ("Handelsblatt"). The youngest son Hubert (born 1940), a doctor of art history, became the sole shareholder of Burda GmbH. He was prepared for the publishing industry, had completed traineeships in US advertising agencies and publishing houses and worked as publishing director of Burda's own "Bild und Funk" until 1974. He had founded the men's magazine "M" in 1969 (discontinued in 1970 after losses in the millions). Other Burda first editions: “Carina” (1977 by Burda Modenverlag) and “Chip” (1978). And then Hubert Burda was editor-in-chief of “Bunte” from 1976, which he, inspired by Andy Warhol, made the first German People magazine made.

Quote from Hubert Burda from “The Bunte Story” (2012): “But the most exciting thing was: Andy Warhol came from New York to Offenburg in southern Baden to photograph my father. From then on, a friendly relationship developed between Warhol and me. We often met in New York, St. Moritz or Munich (…) At one of our meetings, Andy once said to me – I was already editor-in-chief of ‘Bunte’ at the time: “Hubert, you are so rich, you have 4.8 million readers at ‘Bunte’ and I only have 500,000 at ‘Interview’.” That was the impetus for my idea of turning ‘Bunte’ into a people magazine. As editor-in-chief, I followed two principles in particular, which I also emphasized on my agency trips: 'Bunte' stands for 'pursuit of happiness' - which Bazon Brock had introduced me to - and 'Media is Art', Andy Warhol's idea."

Then came the expansion to the east at the end of the 1980s, the development into a media group. In 1987, “Burda Modenwas the first Western magazine to enter the Soviet Union (in 1989, “Burda Moden” was the largest fashion magazine in the world, with a circulation of over four million). After reunification, “Super Illu” was created (with Gong Verlag): one of the best-selling magazines in the new federal states. A flop, however, was the tabloid “Super” in 1992, which was intended to compete with the “Bild” newspaper, especially among the East German audience. An unexpected success, however, was the news magazine “Focus”, which Hubert Burda and Helmut Markwort founded in 1993. Few had given the project or the attempt to break the opinion monopoly of “Spiegel” a chance of success. “Focus”: today, alongside “Spiegel” and “Stern”, one of the most widely read German weekly magazines. Sold circulation 3/2024: “Focus” 240,495 copies, “Spiegel” 672,238 copies, “Stern” 297,546 copies.

Early internet plans such as "Europe Online" (1994), which was to become Europe's largest internet provider in cooperation with AOL Europe, failed. The expensive platform filed for bankruptcy in 2002. But Burda massively expanded the Burda Digital division. Since 2010, its turnover (although expanded to include direct marketing) has exceeded that of the German publishing business. Burda then acquired a 20 percent stake in RCS Periodici in Milan with its Italian partner RCS Rizzoli Corriere della Sera (in an international cooperation from 1995 to 2004), and Rizzoli in turn acquired a 20 percent stake in Burda Verlag Osteuropa. In 1995, the company also acquired a 40 percent stake in the Hamburg publishing group Milchstraße, which included the magazines "TV Spielfilm", "Fit for Fun" and "Cinema" (the largest European film magazine), which Burda took over completely at the end of 2004.

Paul-Bernhard Kallen (born 1957) from Neuss joined Burda in 1996 and was promoted to the board in 1999. Under his responsibility, the group developed a "portfolio of online investments": for example, in Onvista, Ciao, Tomorrow Internet AG, Just Books, Cyberport. 2009/2010 was the turning point in the company's history. Owner/publisher Hubert Burda, who had managed the company alone until then, planned his successor: he appointed CFO Paul-Bernhard Kallen as CEO of the holding company and at the same time took on his two children Jacob Burda and Elisabeth Burda Furtwängler as shareholders. This, according to the Burda website, "set the course for Hubert Burda Media to remain a family business in the future."

management

"Generational change at Hubert Burda Media" (Burda.com): On February 1, 2025, Elisabeth Burda Furtwängler (born 1992) and Dr. Jacob Burda (born 1990) took over "entrepreneurial and publishing responsibility for Hubert Burda Media" in the fourth generation. Hubert Burda retired from the group's board of directors at the end of January 2025: "I am grateful that I was able to take over a healthy publishing house from my parents around 40 years ago and can now hand over a versatile media company to my children."  

Jacob Burda, who received his doctorate in philosophy from Oxford and taught German literature at UCLA, said: "Burda is in a crucial phase in which it is important to set the right course for our almost 10,000 employees and society. I am very pleased to be a part of this in the future." And his sister Elisabeth Burda Furtwängler: "We have consciously decided to take on this entrepreneurial task now in politically and economically challenging times in order to continue the transformation of our family business - with an awareness of tradition and an open mind for new things."

Paul-Bernhard Kallen, born in 1957, former Burda CEO and most recently Chairman of the Board of Directors, also resigned along with Hubert Burda. He had misjudged the situation when he handed over operational management of the media group in January 2022 to media manager Martin Weiss, with whom Burda parted ways again in early 2024. Their communication styles diverged and at some point it just didn't work anymore, said Kallen in an interview with Manager magazine in mid-2024. The new head of the Board of Directors was former Metro CEO Olaf Koch on February 1, 2025. Former board member Andreas Rittstieg was appointed deputy chairman of the Board of Directors, and Ulrike Handel, who previously worked for Springer for twelve years, was also new there.

Finally, a quote from the Handelsblatt (19.12.2004): “The publishing heir (Hubert Burda), owner in the third generation, has occasionally quoted the great Otto von Bismarck, half amused, half worried: “The first generation creates wealth, the second manages wealth, the third studies art history and the fourth degenerates completely.” Despite all the historical parallels, the future of the well-run Burda company is unlikely to look like this.”  

Business segments

Hubert Burda Media consists of the following three operational divisions:

Consumer Media (international Media and publishing businesses); division with 1.1 billion euros in sales and 444 journal titles published worldwide (2023), which in turn is divided into the four Profit center. BurdaVerlag with 155 magazines and around 100 digital media (examples: “Bunte”, “Freizeit Revue”, “Focus”, “Focus money”, “Elle”, “Freundin”, “Instyle”, “Superillu”, “TV Spielfilm”, “Cinema”, “Harper's Bazaar”); BurdaForward: digital publishing house with, according to its own information, over 41 million unique users, which publishes portals such as FOCUS Online, CHIP, BUNTE.de, Finanzen100, TV Spielfilm plus, NetMoms, The Weather Channel; BurdaBroadcast: manages the more than 30 direct and indirect Burda broadcasting interests in brands such as Antenne Bayern, Hitradio FFH, Radio Arabella, BB Radio and Ostseewelle; BurdaInternational: consolidates Hubert Burda Media's global activities in 11 countries. The 250 international media brands include "Immediate," "Burda Media Polska," "Burda Media Extra," "Burda Bleu," "Burda Luxury," and "Burda Create!"

B2B Media Services (B2B services), which are divided into the BurdaDruckGroup: one of the largest printing companies in Europe with two plants in Offenburg, a company in Nuremberg and one in Vieux-Thann, France; C3: “Content marketing agency” with locations in Berlin, Munich, London, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Zagreb, Prague and Ljubljana; New Work SE (formerly openBC, XING): social network for professional contacts, job advertisements.

Commerce: Internet activities in the following four areas. BurdaCommerce the e-commerce investments in Cyberport SE, on Cybersolutions GmbH and the online retailer Silkes Weinkeller GmbH bundled; BurdaNext invests in Germany's largest neighborhood platform Nebenan.de (2.6 million users in 8,000 active neighborhoods); BurdaPrincipal Investments: international growth capital arm that invests in internet companies in the technology and media sectors; HolidayCheck Group AG: one of Europe's leading digital companies for holidaymakers, with Hubert Burda Media as the main shareholder.

Current developments