About Singener Wochenblatt

Singener Wochenblatt

The Singener Wochenblatt is a free weekly newspaper serving the Hegau region in the district of Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Published by the Verlag Singener Wochenblatt GmbH & Co. KG, it appears every Wednesday with a distributed circulation of around 86,000 copies, making it one of the highest-circulation free papers in the Lake Constance region. The paper produces six local editions from four editorial offices, covering Singen, the Hegau, Radolfzell and the Höri peninsula, and Stockach with its surrounding area. Founded in 1967 under the name "Hegauanzeiger", it was a founding member of the Federal Association of German Advertising Papers and became the first German advertising paper on the internet in 1996. Its headquarters are at Hadwigstraße 2a in Singen.

Overview

The Singener Wochenblatt follows the free-paper model at its most ambitious: an advertising-financed weekly delivered free to households across the Hegau, the volcanic landscape between the Black Forest and Lake Constance dominated by the Hohentwiel mountain. The paper's six local editions serve Singen, Rielasingen-Worblingen, Steißlingen and Volkertshausen, the Hegau communities, Radolfzell with the Höri peninsula, and Stockach with Eigeltingen and Orsingen-Nenzingen. Four local editorial offices produce the editions, giving each sub-region its own editorial identity within the weekly.

Singen (Hohentwiel) is the largest town of the Hegau, with around fifty thousand inhabitants and a strong industrial base including the Maggi food factory, the Constellium aluminium works and the Takeda pharmaceutical plant. The paper's distribution area extends from the industrial Hegau to the tourist shores of Lake Constance, covering a region that combines manufacturing, agriculture and tourism. The paper appears every Wednesday and is available in print, as an e-paper, and through the wochenblatt.net portal with hourly updated online news. Its editor-in-chief is Oliver Fiedler, its publisher Anatol Hennig, and its managing director Carmen Frese-Kroll. The publishing house is located at Hadwigstraße 2a in Singen, and the weekly's six editions give it one of the densest local footprints of any free paper in the district of Konstanz.

History

The Singener Wochenblatt's first issue appeared on 29 July 1967 under the name "Hegauanzeiger", founded to serve the Hegau region with a free weekly newspaper. The paper grew with the region, expanding its editions to cover the district of Konstanz's sub-regions. In 1987 the Singener Wochenblatt was one of the founding members of the BVDA, the Federal Association of German Advertising Papers, helping to establish the professional standards of the free-paper industry in Germany.

A milestone came in 1996, when the Singener Wochenblatt became the first German advertising paper on the World Wide Web, pioneering the digital presence of the free-paper sector. Around the turn of the millennium the publishing house produced a digital and printed historical work on the district of Konstanz, underlining its commitment to regional identity. In 2006 the publishing house founded the charitable association "Menschen helfen e.V.", which supports people in need in the region who are not helped by any authority or aid organisation and who fall through the net of social security. The paper has maintained its Wednesday publication rhythm and its independent family publishing house through the digital transformation of the advertising market.

Coverage and Content

The Singener Wochenblatt's editorial content is built around the weekly rhythm of the Hegau region. The paper reports on municipal politics in Singen, Radolfzell, Stockach and the Hegau communities, on the district politics of the Konstanz district, and on the planning issues of a region balancing industry, tourism and the natural landscape between the Hegau volcanoes and the lake. The paper follows the local economy, from the industrial employers of Singen to the tourism businesses of the Höri peninsula and the agricultural sector of the Hegau.

The paper gives extensive space to club and association life, with detailed event calendars covering concerts, hikes, club meetings and courses across the editions. Its "Fundgrube" classified section, job market pages and real estate advertisements form the service core of the weekly. Family announcements, sports reporting and cultural previews round out the editorial offering. The paper also serves official functions: it produces the "SINGEN kommunal" official gazette of the Singen town administration, distributed as part of the weekly. The wochenblatt.net portal provides hourly updated online news, extending the weekly's reach into the digital daily rhythm.

Organization and Ownership

The Singener Wochenblatt is published by the Verlag Singener Wochenblatt GmbH & Co. KG, based at Hadwigstraße 2a in Singen. The publishing house is led by publisher Anatol Hennig, managing director Carmen Frese-Kroll and editor-in-chief Oliver Fiedler. The company operates four local editorial offices producing the six local editions, with the central operations in Singen handling production, advertising sales and distribution.

The publishing house is an independent company, and its independence has allowed it to pursue its distinctive strategy of combining the free weekly with digital innovation and charitable engagement. The company's early move onto the internet in 1996 and its hourly updated online news portal demonstrate a digital ambition unusual for a free paper. The charitable association "Menschen helfen e.V.", founded from within the publishing house in 2006, reflects the company's embedding in the region's civic life. Advertising sales are handled through the publishing house's own rate cards, offering advertisers combinations across the six editions.

Readership and Market Position

The Singener Wochenblatt's market position is defined by its household coverage: with a distributed circulation of around 86,000 copies, audited by the ADA/BVDA, it reaches households across the Hegau that the subscription dailies do not. This makes it the leading advertising medium for retail businesses seeking complete market coverage in the region, from the large chain stores to the local car dealers, crafts businesses and service providers. The paper competes with the Südkurier, the Konstanz-based daily with its Singen local edition, and with other free papers in the Lake Constance region.

The paper's defence against digital competition is its deep regional embedding: six local editions with their own editorial identities, the official gazette function for the town of Singen, and the charitable association that connects the brand to civic life. The free-paper market has faced pressure from the migration of classified and retail advertising to the internet, but the Singener Wochenblatt has responded with its early and continuous digital investment, from the 1996 web launch to the hourly updated portal. Its continued Wednesday appearance and stable audited circulation testify to the enduring value of the free weekly in the Hegau.

Digital Presence

The Singener Wochenblatt's digital home is wochenblatt.net, the paper's online portal presenting hourly updated news from the Hegau, Singen, Radolfzell and Stockach. Readers can access the weekly as an e-paper, and the portal extends the paper's reach beyond the print distribution with continuously updated online reporting. The paper reaches readers through social media channels, and its digital classifieds complement the print "Fundgrube" and job market pages.

As the first German advertising paper on the internet, the Singener Wochenblatt has a longer digital history than most of its competitors, and its portal strategy treats online news as a daily complement to the weekly print rhythm. The digital offering is freely accessible, consistent with the free-paper model, and supported by digital advertising. The combination of the print weekly, the e-paper, the hourly updated portal and social media gives the Singener Wochenblatt a comprehensive presence in the Hegau's media landscape, serving readers across the district of Konstanz and beyond.