About Sechsämterbote

Sechsämterbote

The Sechsämterbote is a local daily newspaper for Wunsiedel and the Fichtelgebirge region in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, published as part of the Frankenpost newspaper group. Founded in 1850, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Upper Franconia, and its name refers to the historic Sechsämterland, the six-district territory of the Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth centred on Wunsiedel. Appearing Monday to Saturday, the paper serves the district town of Wunsiedel and the surrounding Fichtelgebirge with local pages and the Frankenpost's overregional sections. Since April 2019 it has been integrated into the Frankenpost's Fichtelgebirge edition alongside the Sechsämter Neueste Nachrichten, the Marktredwitzer Tagblatt and the Selb edition.

Overview

The Sechsämterbote is the historic newspaper of Wunsiedel, the district town of the Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge district and the birthplace of the poet Jean Paul. Founded in 1850, it predates German unification by more than two decades and has chronicled the Fichtelgebirge's history from the industrialisation era through two world wars, the division and reunification of Germany, to the present. The paper's name anchors it in the Sechsämterland, the historic territory of six districts, Hohenberg, Kirchenlamitz, Selb, Thierstein, Weißenstadt and Wunsiedel, which formed an administrative unit of the Brandenburg-Bayreuth margraves with Wunsiedel as its capital from 1613.

As part of the Frankenpost group, the Sechsämterbote appears within the Frankenpost Ausgabe Fichtelgebirge, the edition covering the entire Wunsiedel district. The paper appears six days a week in print and is available as an e-paper and through the frankenpost.de portal. Its readership consists mainly of subscribers in Wunsiedel and the surrounding communities of the western and central Fichtelgebirge, who value the paper's deep roots in the district town and its continuous coverage of local civic life across more than 170 years.

History

The Sechsämterbote was founded in 1850 as the newspaper of Wunsiedel, the capital of the historic Sechsämterland. In its early decades it served the administrative and commercial life of the district town, reporting on the tin mining and tin plate manufacturing that had made Wunsiedel economically significant since the Middle Ages. The paper chronicled the town's nineteenth-century development, its incorporation into the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1810, and the region's industrialisation.

The twentieth century brought profound changes that the paper documented in detail: the two world wars, the Nazi era, and the post-war refounding of the German press under Allied licensing. Wunsiedel gained wider attention in the post-war decades as the burial place of Rudolf Hess, whose grave became a pilgrimage site for neo-Nazis until the grave was dissolved, and as the home of the Luisenburg Festival, one of Germany's oldest open-air theatre festivals. The Sechsämterbote became part of the Frankenpost group, the Hof-based publishing house that consolidated Upper Franconia's dailies. In April 2019 the Frankenpost reorganised its editions, integrating the Sechsämterbote, the Sechsämter Neueste Nachrichten, the Marktredwitzer Tagblatt and the Selb edition into the single Frankenpost Ausgabe Fichtelgebirge, preserving the historic titles' identities within the unified edition.

Coverage and Content

The Fichtelgebirge edition's local pages cover Wunsiedel and the surrounding communities of the central and western Fichtelgebirge. Municipal politics is a central beat, with reporting on the Wunsiedel town council, the district council of Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge, and the planning issues of the district town. The paper follows the local economy, from the remaining industrial employers to the tourism sector built on the Luisenburg rock labyrinth, the festival, and the hiking trails of the Kösseine and the surrounding peaks.

Cultural reporting draws on Wunsiedel's distinctive heritage: the Jean Paul museum in the poet's birthplace, the Luisenburg Festival's summer seasons, and the town's historic centre. The paper covers the district's schools, clubs and associations with the thoroughness of a paper that has served the same community for more than a century and a half. The Frankenpost's central newsroom in Hof supplies the overregional sections: Upper Franconian regional news, Bavarian state politics, national news from Berlin, international reporting, business, culture and sports. Service elements such as event calendars, obituaries, family announcements and consumer advice complete the daily offering.

Organization and Ownership

The Sechsämterbote is published by the Frankenpost Verlag GmbH in Hof as part of the Frankenpost Ausgabe Fichtelgebirge. The publishing house is majority-owned by the Südwestdeutsche Medienholding (SWMH) with 52.8 percent and the Deutsche Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft (DDVG) with 35 percent. The group's subsidiary Blickpunkt Verlag in Hof produces the group's advertising papers. The Sechsämterbote maintains its editorial presence in Wunsiedel, serving the district town and the surrounding area.

Production is centralised at the group's printing facilities, and distribution, subscription management and advertising sales are handled through the group's shared services. The Frankenpost appears in the Rhenish format, and its four editions share the central mantle while producing distinct local sections. The 2019 reorganisation streamlined the edition structure, bringing the historic Wunsiedel title together with the other Fichtelgebirge papers under a single edition while preserving the Sechsämterbote's name and its association with the district town.

Readership and Market Position

The Sechsämterbote, within the Frankenpost's Fichtelgebirge edition, holds a strong position as the historic newspaper of the district town of Wunsiedel. Founded in 1850, it is among the oldest continuously published newspapers in Upper Franconia, and its longevity gives it exceptional credibility in the community it serves. The Frankenpost group's market leadership in Upper Franconia, with around sixty percent of the region's residents reading the paper daily, provides the economic foundation for the Fichtelgebirge edition.

Like all German regional dailies, the Frankenpost has experienced circulation decline, addressed through e-paper subscriptions and the frankenpost.de portal. The Sechsämterbote's market position rests on its identity as Wunsiedel's own paper: no other title carries the district town's name with a history stretching back to 1850. Its readership is rooted in the stable communities of the central Fichtelgebirge, where the paper remains the reference medium for local politics, club life and community events.

The Sechsämterbote's editorial presence in Wunsiedel keeps the newsroom at the heart of the district town, close to the town hall, the district administration, the Luisenburg Festival organisation and the clubs that shape community life. For a paper founded in 1850, this continuity of local presence is itself a journalistic asset: generations of Wunsiedel families have read the Sechsämterbote, and its archives constitute one of the most complete records of the district town's modern history. Within the Frankenpost group, the title's historic identity remains a distinctive voice for the Sechsämterland.

The integration into the large frankenpost.de platform gives the Wunsiedel title modern digital tools while preserving its historic identity, securing the Sechsämterbote's place in the Fichtelgebirge's media landscape for the years to come.

Digital Presence

The Sechsämterbote's digital home is the frankenpost.de portal, the Frankenpost group's online platform presenting continuously updated news from Upper Franconia. Readers can access the complete printed edition as an e-paper, and the group's apps provide mobile access to all four editions. The digital offering follows a subscription model, with digital subscriptions available for the paywalled articles.

The Frankenpost's online newsroom produces digital-first updates throughout the day, and readers can follow the paper through social media channels, push notifications and newsletters. The integration into the large frankenpost.de platform gives the Wunsiedel title modern digital tools while preserving its historic identity. The paper's digital reach extends the district town's local news beyond the print circulation area, serving former residents and the dispersed community of the Sechsämterland.