About Böblinger Bote

Böblinger Bote

The Böblinger Bote, published under the title Kreiszeitung Böblinger Bote (KRZ), is the daily newspaper for the town of Böblingen and the old Böblingen district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, appearing Monday to Saturday with a sold circulation of around 9,127 copies. The paper's history reaches back to 1825, making it one of the oldest newspapers in the Stuttgart region. It is published by the Wilhelm Schlecht GmbH & Co. KG, under editor Jan-Philipp Schlecht and managing director Herbert Dachs, and belongs to the Medienholding Süd and the Neue Pressegesellschaft group. The paper's national and regional pages come from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten mantle, while its own newsroom covers the Altkreis Böblingen, the old district around the town. Its digital home is krzbb.de, the portal of the Kreiszeitung.

Overview

The Böblinger Bote appears Monday to Saturday as the daily newspaper of Böblingen, the town southwest of Stuttgart, and the Altkreis Böblingen, the old district. Its sold circulation is approximately 9,127 copies, serving a region shaped by the automotive and technology industries, the Schönbuch nature park and the Stuttgart commuter belt.

The publisher is the Wilhelm Schlecht GmbH & Co. KG, the Schlecht family's publishing company, whose history with the paper reaches back to 1825. The editor is Jan-Philipp Schlecht, and the managing director is Herbert Dachs. The company belongs to the Medienholding Süd and the Neue Pressegesellschaft, the Ulm-based media group, integrating the traditional local paper into a larger regional media structure.

The paper's structure follows the German local model: the Böblingen local pages are written by the town's newsroom, covering the town council, the district affairs, the schools, the club life and the Stuttgart region's economic issues, while the mantle from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten provides professional national, international and state coverage.

The readership is the Altkreis population: families, Daimler and high-tech workers, commuters to Stuttgart, craftsmen, club members and seniors. The paper's 200-year history gives it a unique authority in the region.

History

The Böblinger Bote was founded in 1825, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, making it one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in southwestern Germany. The paper chronicled two centuries of the Böblingen region's history: the Kingdom of Württemberg, the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era, the postwar reconstruction and the town's transformation into a high-tech center.

The Schlecht family built the publishing house over generations, guiding the Wilhelm Schlecht GmbH & Co. KG through the transformations of the German press. The paper's longevity, nearly 200 years, testifies to the family's commitment and the region's loyalty.

In recent decades, the paper integrated into the larger media structures: the Medienholding Süd and the Neue Pressegesellschaft of Ulm, which provided the corporate backing, technology and shared services for the digital age. The mantle partnership with the Stuttgarter Nachrichten secured the paper's national and state pages.

Under editor Jan-Philipp Schlecht and managing director Herbert Dachs, the paper has navigated the digital transformation, developing krzbb.de, e-paper, apps and digital subscriptions while maintaining the printed daily that has served Böblingen since 1825.

The town's metamorphosis from a Württemberg administrative town into a global technology location gave the paper two centuries of defining stories: the Daimler settlement, the high-tech boom, the Schönbuch's preservation amid industrial growth, and the Stuttgart region's evolution into one of Europe's economic powerhouses. The Bote's archives, reaching back to 1825, make it one of the great documentary resources of southwestern Germany, consulted by historians as well as by citizens tracing their families' past.

Coverage and Content

The Böblinger Bote's local pages are the daily record of the Altkreis. The Böblingen town council's decisions on budgets, urban development, the technology sector, schools, roads and the Schönbuch's preservation are covered in the detail residents need.

The high-tech economy provides distinctive themes: the automotive and IT industries, the research institutions, the start-ups and the debates over the region's economic future. Features on the local employers, on the apprenticeship traditions and on the Stuttgart region's innovation appear alongside the daily news.

The Schönbuch nature park offers leisure themes: the forests, the hiking trails and the balance between the industrial region and its green heart. Club life is central: sports clubs, carnival societies, music associations, volunteer fire brigades and church congregations announce events and publish reports.

The Stuttgarter Nachrichten mantle provides professional coverage of Baden-Württemberg state, German and world news, business, culture and sports. Special supplements serve readers and advertisers throughout the year.

Organization and Ownership

The Böblinger Bote is published by the Wilhelm Schlecht GmbH & Co. KG, the Schlecht family's publishing company, founded in the paper's 1825 tradition. The editor is Jan-Philipp Schlecht, who leads the newsroom, and the managing director is Herbert Dachs, who directs the business operations.

The company belongs to the Medienholding Süd and the Neue Pressegesellschaft group of Ulm, integrating the family paper into a larger regional media structure while preserving its local identity and the Schlecht family's editorial leadership.

The newsroom is based in Böblingen, with reporters covering the town and the Altkreis. The mantle comes from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, one of Baden-Württemberg's leading dailies, giving the paper professional supra-regional pages.

Financial details are not publicly disclosed. The company follows the German Press Code (Pressekodex), the voluntary ethical standard of the German press.

Digital Presence

The Böblinger Bote's digital home is krzbb.de, the portal of the Kreiszeitung Böblinger Bote. The site carries continuously updated news from Böblingen and the Altkreis, along with e-paper access, photo galleries, videos and reader services.

The e-paper reproduces the printed daily page by page for computers, tablets and smartphones. The portal's app provides breaking news, personalized notifications and full e-paper access, serving the region's tech-savvy readership.

On social media, the KRZ maintains presences that distribute local news, event announcements and the photography of the Schönbuch region to its audience. The community content generates engagement, and the newsroom uses the channels for tips and reader interaction.

The digital strategy, supported by the Neue Pressegesellschaft group, aims to build paid digital subscriptions alongside the printed paper, converting online reach into a sustainable business while the printed Böblinger Bote, founded in 1825, remains the daily paper of record for the Altkreis, continuing a publishing history of nearly two centuries.

The Schlecht family's two-century stewardship is unmatched in the German regional press: through kingdoms, empires, republics and dictatorships, the family kept the Bote publishing in Böblingen, adapting the paper to every era's technology while preserving its local mission. For the Altkreis's readers, the Bote is not just a newspaper but an institution, as much a part of Böblingen as the town church or the Schönbuch itself.

The Stuttgart region's economic dynamism gives the edition an ongoing front-page agenda: the automotive industry's transformation, the technology sector's growth, the debates over housing and transport in one of Germany's most prosperous regions, and the Schönbuch's role as the green counterweight to industrial density. The Bote's business reporting, grounded in the Altkreis's employers and the district's economic data, serves readers who live inside Germany's economic engine, making the paper indispensable to the region's decision-makers as well as its households.

The paper's 200th anniversary, approaching in 2025, marks a milestone few German newspapers reach: two centuries of continuous publication in the same town under the same family's stewardship. The anniversary editions and reader events celebrate not just a newspaper but the Böblingen region's documented memory, from the Württemberg kingdom to the high-tech present, preserved in the Bote's archives for future generations.