About Hörakustik

Hörakustik

Hörakustik is the German monthly trade journal for hearing-aid acoustics, the official organ of the Bundesinnung der Hörgeräteakustiker (biha), the federal guild of hearing-aid acousticians. Published by the Median-Verlag, the journal has served the profession since 1966, when it launched as "Der Hörgeräte-Akustiker," receiving its current name in 1987. Addressing all hearing-aid acousticians in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the journal covers industry news, scientific contributions, association and industry policy, products, and business management, plus accompanying training information for the craft's apprentices.

Overview

Hörakustik appears monthly as the profession's central medium: the official organ of the federal guild, the scientific forum, and the business companion in one. This triple function is the journal's editorial formula: the guild news gives it the institutional authority, the scientific contributions give it the professional credibility, and the business content gives it the practical value. The monthly rhythm keeps the acousticians current on the technology that changes their work and the policies that shape their profession. The content spans the current industry news, from the manufacturers' product launches to the regulatory developments; the scientific contributions on audiology and hearing technology; the association and industry policy, from the guild's work to the health-policy debates; the product information; and the business-management guidance for the acousticians' practices.

The readership is the entire profession in the German-speaking world: the master acousticians, the journeymen, and the apprentices. The journal also carries the accompanying training information for the apprentices of the craft at the Akademie für Hörgeräte-Akustik (AHA) in Lübeck, making it the educational companion of the next generation.

The Hearing-Technology Revolution

Hörakustik has documented the most dramatic technological transformation in the health crafts: the hearing aid's evolution from the analog body-worn devices of the 1960s to today's AI-powered, Bluetooth-connected, nearly invisible systems. The digital revolution of the 1990s, when programmable and then fully digital hearing aids replaced the analog circuits, changed the acoustician's work fundamentally: the fitting became a software-driven science, the counseling a technology consultation. The journal's scientific contributions tracked each wave: the directional microphones, the feedback suppression, the wireless connectivity, the rechargeable batteries, and now the artificial intelligence that separates speech from noise.

This technological dynamism is the journal's editorial engine: the manufacturers' relentless innovation gives the monthly issues their news, the scientific contributions their subjects, and the profession its continuing-education mandate. The acoustician's expertise must keep pace with the technology, and the journal is the profession's pacemaker: the monthly update on what the technology can do and what the fitting must achieve.

History

The journal's history begins in the 1960s, when the profession of the Hörgeräteakustiker emerged in Germany and created the need for the dissemination of specialist information. "Der Hörgeräte-Akustiker" appeared for the first time in 1966, and since the Median-Verlag's founding in 1968, the publisher has issued the journal. In 1987, it received its current name, "Hörakustik," reflecting the profession's matured identity.

The journal's six decades mirror the hearing industry's transformations: from the analog hearing aids of the 1960s to the digital revolution of the 1990s, from the small craft businesses to today's chains and buying groups, from the medical-device regulation to the OTC debates. Through all these changes, Hörakustik has remained the profession's constant: the monthly record of what the hearing-acoustics world needs to know.

Coverage and Content

The industry news covers the manufacturers, from the global hearing-aid groups, the Swiss, Danish, and German giants that dominate the world market, to the specialized suppliers of fitting equipment, earmolds, and accessories; the product launches, from the latest hearing systems with their AI features to the fitting software that the acousticians use daily; and the market developments, from the consolidation of the retail chains to the new online and OTC concepts that challenge the traditional fitting model. The scientific contributions address audiology, hearing technology, and fitting science, with the rigor that the medical-device profession requires: the verification of fitting outcomes, the validation of new technologies, and the research that advances the understanding of hearing and hearing loss.

The association and industry policy coverage follows the Bundesinnung's work: the guild's advocacy, the training regulations, and the health-policy positions. The business-management content addresses the practice economics: the marketing, the personnel, and the succession that determine the acousticians' success. The apprentice information supports the training at the Lübeck academy, connecting the journal to the profession's educational system.

The Hearing-Acoustics Profession

The Hörgeräteakustiker is one of Germany's regulated health crafts: the master acoustician fits the hearing aids, counsels the hearing-impaired, and provides the aftercare. The profession combines the medical-technical expertise with the retail business: the acousticians are healthcare providers and entrepreneurs in one. The journal serves both roles: the scientific contributions support the professional expertise, and the business content supports the entrepreneurial success.

The industry's structure, with its global manufacturers, national chains, and independent master businesses, creates the tensions that the journal navigates: the official organ of the guild represents the craft's interests while reporting on the industry that supplies it. The independents, the master-owned businesses that form the craft's backbone, face the competition from the chains' marketing power and the online providers' price pressure: the journal's business-management content addresses their survival strategies. The EUHA congress, the industry's annual gathering organized by the European Union of Hearing Aid Acousticians, is the journal's key event: the coverage of the congress, with its scientific program and its industry exhibition, sets the profession's agenda for the year.

Organization and Ownership

Hörakustik is published by the Median-Verlag, whose managing director since 2005 is Björn Kerzmann. The publisher specializes in the hearing world: alongside Hörakustik, it publishes the "Zeitschrift für Audiologie/Audiological Acoustics," the scientific journal for audiologists with four issues per year, and since 1999 the "HörgeschädigtenPädagogik" for the professional association of German hearing-impaired pedagogues.

The journal's status as the official organ of the Bundesinnung der Hörgeräteakustiker gives it its institutional authority: it is the guild's voice to the profession, the channel through which the federal guild communicates its positions, its training initiatives, and its political advocacy. This official function distinguishes Hörakustik from the purely commercial trade press: the journal carries the profession's self-governance, the announcements and the debates that shape the craft's collective identity. The business model is the trade-journal model: subscriptions from the profession, advertising from the manufacturers and suppliers who need the acousticians' attention, and the special publications that serve the industry's information needs.

Digital Presence

The website hoerakustik.net extends the monthly journal into the digital space: the current news, the article archive, and the digital services for the profession. For a monthly trade journal, the digital presence provides the timeliness that the print rhythm cannot: the industry news appears online as it happens, while the print issue delivers the depth.

Six decades after its founding, Hörakustik remains the hearing-acoustics profession's medium: the monthly journal that records the industry's developments, the scientific forum that advances the knowledge, and the guild's organ that represents the craft. In a profession where technology and care meet, where the AI-powered hearing system must be fitted with the human understanding of the hearing-impaired person's life, the journal is the bridge: between the manufacturers and the acousticians, between the science and the practice, between the guild and its members, and between the technology's possibilities and the profession's responsibilities.