About Wolfhager Allgemeine

Wolfhager Allgemeine

The Wolfhager Allgemeine is the Wolfhagen local edition of the Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA) — the Kassel-based regional daily founded 26 September 1945, published by Verlag Dierichs. The edition serves Wolfhagen (around 13,000 inhabitants) — the Diemel valley's small town, the dinosaur-track city — and the surrounding northern Hessian communities. Its lineage traces to the 1946 "Nordhessischer Spiegel" — the HNA's local edition for the Hofgeismar and Wolfhagen districts.

Overview

The Wolfhager Allgemeine appears daily except Sunday, combining the HNA's Kassel-produced general section with the Wolfhagen newsroom's local pages. A 2025 media record documented the edition at 4,720 copies with a 10,998 reach — the small-town edition's intimate scale within the HNA's regional total.

The readership consists of Wolfhagen's households, the Diemel valley's villages, local businesses, and the commuters oriented toward Kassel. The edition's local identity reflects the HNA's local-edition strategy — the paper's market backbone since 1946.

History

The Hessische Nachrichten first appeared in Kassel on 26 September 1945 — licensed by the American military government to editors Wolfgang Bartels (SPD), Fritz Schmidt (KPD), August Heinrich Berning, Gustav Römer, and Wolfgang Poeschl — the third newspaper in Hesse after the Frankfurter Rundschau and the Marburger Presse. Paper shortages limited it to Wednesday and Saturday editions at 1.85 Reichsmark monthly.

In summer 1946, the expansion through local editions began: the "Nordhessischer Spiegel" became the local edition for the Hofgeismar and Wolfhagen districts — the Wolfhager Allgemeine's direct ancestor. Since 1 September 1948, the paper has appeared daily. The Wolfhagen edition's history — the small town's newsroom, the Diemel valley's coverage, the district's development — is the HNA's local-edition tradition in miniature.

Coverage and Content

The Wolfhager Allgemeine's local pages cover Wolfhagen's town politics, the Diemel valley's communities, and the region's particular stories: the dinosaur tracks (Protochirotherium wolfhagense), the half-timbered old town, and the Diemel cycle path's five-star certification.

The paper covers the town council's deliberations, the district's development, the local Mittelstand, the schools, and the clubs and associations. The HNA's general section supplies the comprehensive offering: northern Hesse's regional news, Hessian state politics, national and international coverage. The edition's small-town character shapes the editorial: the neighborhoods, the volunteers, and the valley's traditions.

Organization and Ownership

The Wolfhager Allgemeine is published by Verlag Dierichs, Kassel — the Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine's publishing house. The Wolfhagen newsroom produces the edition's local pages; the Kassel central newsroom supplies the general section. The paper appears in Berlin format, printed in Kassel.

The HNA's digital home is hna.de, the regional portal, operating the digital subscription model with e-paper editions, apps, newsletters, and social media channels.

Wolfhagen: Dinosaur-Track Town

Wolfhagen's identity — the dinosaur footprints in the town forest (two species first discovered here), the 1230-founded old town, the Diemel valley's landscapes — gives the paper's local journalism its most prehistoric character. The Wolfhager Allgemeine covers the track discoveries, the museum's exhibits, and the old town's preservation with the pride of the dinosaur town's paper.

The town's medieval heritage — the 1230/1231 founding, the Burg Wolfhagen's remains, the half-timbered streets — and the Diemel cycle path's five stars complete the beat. In Wolfhagen, where the dinosaurs walked before the town, the weekly... the daily's local pages document the deep time beneath the small town.

Readership and Market Position

The Wolfhager Allgemeine serves Wolfhagen's households and the Diemel valley's communities — 4,720 copies, 10,998 reach — as the HNA's Wolfhagen edition: the small-town paper within northern Hesse's regional daily. Its market position combines dinosaur-town intimacy with the Kassel paper's regional resources.

Like all German regional dailies, the paper faces long-term circulation pressure, addressed through the hna.de digital platform, e-paper editions, and digital subscriptions.

The Nordhessischer Spiegel

The 1946 "Nordhessischer Spiegel" — the HNA's local edition for the Hofgeismar and Wolfhagen districts — is the Wolfhager Allgemeine's direct ancestor. The edition's lineage — the postwar local-edition expansion, the summer 1946 launch, the district coverage — gives the small-town paper an 80-year pedigree.

The lineage's continuity — the Spiegel's district pages, the Wolfhager Allgemeine's town focus, the HNA's local-edition strategy — spans the Federal Republic's history. In Wolfhagen, where the local paper predates the Basic Law, the daily's pages carry the postwar decades.

The Diemel Valley

The Diemel's valley — the river's course through northern Hesse, the five-star cycle path, the valley villages — frames the edition's landscape coverage. The paper covers the valley's seasons, the cycle tourism, and the riverside communities with the devotion of the valley's paper.

The valley's waters — the Diemel's flow, the Weser's confluence at Bad Karlshafen, the nine municipalities' cooperation — and the ADFC's five stars complete the beat. In the Diemel valley, where the river is the route, the paper's valley journalism pedals the path.

The Half-Timbered Town

Wolfhagen's half-timbered old town — the 1230-founded streets, the preserved houses, the market square — is the paper's architectural signature. The Wolfhager Allgemeine covers the old town's preservation, the festivals, and the residents' life with the pride of the half-timbered town's paper.

The old town's heritage — the medieval wall's traces, the Burg's remains, the town's 800 years — gives the local journalism its historic depth. In Wolfhagen, where the half-timbering tells the centuries, the paper's old-town journalism frames the timber. The HNA's Wolfhagen commitment — the 1946 Spiegel lineage, the 4,720-copy edition, the hna.de platform — anchors the paper's northern-Hessian presence. In Wolfhagen, where the dinosaurs walked and the Diemel flows, the daily's local pages are the small town's newspaper. The Diemel valley's daily endures — the 1946 Spiegel's heir, the dinosaur tracks' chronicler — as northern Hesse's most intimate local edition. Daily except Sunday — the dinosaur town's paper serves the Diemel valley faithfully. The 80-year Spiegel lineage lives on. Daily, local, loyal to the valley. For Wolfhagen's readers, that small town — the dinosaurs, the Diemel, the half-timbering — is the home the daily delivers. The 1946 Spiegel's spirit endures in every local page. The Wolfhagen edition's northern-Hessian identity — the HNA's local-edition family, the dinosaur town's newsroom — makes it the HNA's most prehistoric paper. In the Diemel valley, the daily is the small town's newspaper.

The Dinosaur Tracks

The Wolfhagen dinosaur tracks — the Protochirotherium wolfhagense footprints, first discovered in the town forest — are the paper's prehistoric signature. The Wolfhager Allgemeine covers the track research, the museum's exhibits, and the paleontology with the wonder of the dinosaur town's paper.

The tracks' science — the Triassic footprints, the species' naming, the sandstone quarry — gives the science journalism its ancient depth. In Wolfhagen, where the dinosaurs left their signatures, the paper's track journalism follows the footprints.

The Kellerwald Proximity

The Kellerwald's proximity — the national park's beech forests, the Edersee's waters, the UNESCO heritage — frames the edition's natural coverage. The paper covers the forest's seasons, the lake's tourism, and the region's recreation with the devotion of the Kellerwald's neighbor paper.

The forest's wilderness — the ancient beeches, the wildcats, the hiking trails — and the Edersee's dam complete the beat. In the Wolfhagen region, where the primeval forest stands, the paper's Kellerwald journalism walks the beech paths.

Digital Presence

The paper's digital home is hna.de, the HNA's online portal, which carries the Wolfhagen edition's local news. The portal operates the digital subscription model with e-paper editions, apps, newsletters, and social media channels. The Wolfhagen newsroom's dinosaur-town stories reach both the local online readers and the wider HNA audience across northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony.