About Blick aktuell Mendig

Blick aktuell Mendig

Blick aktuell Mendig is the free weekly newspaper for the town of Mendig in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, published as one of 36 local editions in the Blick aktuell network of KRUPP Verlags GmbH, Sinzig. Reaching approximately 6,776 households each week in tabloid format, the edition has been published since 1997. Mendig, the "basalt town" of the eastern Eifel with its famous lava cellars, its volcanic heritage and its breweries, gives the edition a distinctive local color. Produced by local editors and freelancers with the support of the network's central desk in Sinzig and printed by the family's KRUPP Druck OHG, the paper is financed entirely by advertising and contains no syndicated national news section, dedicating every page to the town and its surrounding villages.

Overview

Published once a week in tabloid format, Blick aktuell Mendig is delivered free to some 6,776 households in Mendig and the neighboring communities of the eastern Eifel. The delivery area centers on the town itself, with its districts of Obermendig and Niedermendig, and extends to surrounding villages that share Mendig's schools, clubs and commercial life.

The edition is one of 36 titles in the Blick aktuell network published by the Krupp family's KRUPP Verlags GmbH of Sinzig, with a combined weekly circulation of roughly 430,000 copies across the Middle Rhine, Ahr, Moselle, Eifel, Westerwald and Bonn/Rhein-Sieg regions. The Mendig paper dates to 1997, one of the network's editions from the late-1990s expansion into the Eifel.

In line with the network's editorial philosophy, the paper carries no mantle: no bought-in bundle of national and international news fills its pages. All content is generated within the KRUPP organization, by the central editorial desk in Sinzig under Daniel Stoffel, by local editors and by freelance contributors from a network-wide pool of around 100 reporters and photographers. The paper is local from the first page to the last.

The readership is the Eifel town's community: families, workers in the basalt and construction industries, brewery employees, commuters to Mayen or Koblenz, club members and seniors. Advertisers are local businesses, craftsmen, retailers, car dealers, gastronomy and service providers, drawn by the paper's near-total household coverage in its zone.

History

The Mendig edition was founded in 1997, when the KRUPP publishing house extended its free-weekly network into the volcanic Eifel around the Laacher See. The Sinzig family firm, rooted in the Sinziger Zeitung of 1876, had been building its constellation of local titles through the 1990s, and Mendig, with its lava cellars, its basalt quarries and its brewing tradition, offered a market with a strong and distinctive identity.

Launched as a Blick aktuell edition, the paper began with the network's established infrastructure: centralized production, the blick-aktuell.de portal and the presses of KRUPP Druck OHG. Over more than a quarter of a century, it has documented the town's modern history: the development of tourism around the lava cellars and the German Volcano Museum, debates over quarrying and nature conservation, the political life of the town council, and the steady rhythm of club anniversaries, parish festivals, carnival sessions and brewery events.

The edition's history is intertwined with the volcanic heritage that defines Mendig. The town's lava cellars, vast underground basalt quarries turned into event venues, and the annual festivals celebrating the stone and brewing traditions have provided the paper with signature stories found in no other edition of the network.

Family ownership of the publishing house, with Hermann Krupp as editor-in-chief and Hermann and Peter Krupp as managing directors, provided the long-term stability that allowed the Mendig edition to grow into a fixture of Eifel media life through the print industry's difficult decades.

Coverage and Content

Blick aktuell Mendig's journalism is rooted in the volcanic town's distinctive character. The Mendig town council's decisions on budgets, building projects, tourism development, roads and schools are covered in the detail residents need, giving the community its essential record of local government.

The volcanic heritage provides signature themes: the lava cellars (Lavakeller), the German Volcano Museum, the basalt quarries and the geological attractions that draw visitors to the town. Features on the stone industry's history, on the cellars' concerts and events, and on the interplay between quarrying and conservation appear regularly, giving the edition a profile unlike any other in the network.

Brewing tradition adds local color: Mendig's breweries and their festivals, the beer culture of the Eifel and the gastronomy built around it. Club life is the paper's backbone: sports clubs, carnival societies, music associations, volunteer fire brigades and church congregations announce events, celebrate anniversaries and publish photographs, and the freelancers' picture pages of these events are the most-read sections.

Service journalism completes each issue: classified advertisements, job listings, property offers, family announcements, church service schedules and official municipal notices. Seasonal specials on home and garden, building, travel and the holidays give advertisers themed environments.

The tabloid's large color photographs capture Mendig's underground and aboveground worlds: the vaulted lava cellars, the basalt landscapes, the town festivals and the familiar faces of local celebrations. The editorial tone is grounded, constructive and community-minded.

Organization and Ownership

The publisher is KRUPP Verlags GmbH of Sinzig, the family-owned company of the Krupp family whose publishing tradition began with the Sinziger Zeitung in 1876. Hermann Krupp leads the Blick aktuell network as editor-in-chief, with Daniel Robbel as deputy editor-in-chief since 2018; Hermann Krupp and Peter Krupp serve as managing directors of the publishing house.

All 36 editions are coordinated through the central editorial desk in Sinzig, headed by Daniel Stoffel, which oversees production, layout and the digital portal. Local reporting comes from editors and freelance contributors drawn from a network-wide pool of about 100 journalists and photographers who live in the areas they cover. In Mendig, they attend council meetings, descend into the lava cellars for event coverage and keep the newsroom connected to town life.

The papers are printed in tabloid format by KRUPP Druck OHG, the family's printing company, appearing on weekdays between Tuesday and Saturday, each edition on its fixed publication day. The integration of publishing and printing under family ownership gives the company control of the production chain.

The paper lives entirely from advertising revenue: display ads, classifieds, inserts and special publications sold to local and regional businesses. There is no cover price and no subscription income. The company follows the German Press Code (Pressekodex), the voluntary ethical code of the German press.

Digital Presence

Blick aktuell Mendig appears online on blick-aktuell.de, the network portal gathering the local journalism of all 36 editions in geographically organized, continuously updated sections. Readers can follow Mendig news daily, browse photo galleries from the lava cellar events and town festivals, and search the archive of past coverage.

The e-paper presents the printed tabloid as a page-faithful digital replica for computers, tablets and smartphones, serving readers away on publication day and former residents following home from afar. Archived issues build a digital chronicle of the volcanic town.

On social media, primarily Facebook, the Blick aktuell brand shares story links, event tips and photo galleries directly with readers. Mendig's distinctive content, lava cellar concerts, basalt landscapes, brewery festivals, stands out on social platforms, and the newsroom uses the channels to collect tips and reader photographs.

For advertisers, the publisher markets combined print, portal and social campaigns through a single sales contact. The approach reflects the company's strategy: sustain the profitable printed weekly, with its near-total household coverage in Mendig, while expanding the digital channels through which Eifel journalism will increasingly be read.