About Eisenbahn-Kurier

Eisenbahn-Kurier

The Eisenbahn-Kurier (EK) is a monthly German magazine devoted to railways and model railways, published in Freiburg im Breisgau by its own publishing house, the EK-Verlag. Founded in 1966, it addresses railway enthusiasts and model railway fans as well as decision-makers and employees in railway operations and the rail industry. With a stated print run of around 30,000 copies, it ranks among the largest railway magazines in Germany. The magazine covers current railway affairs in Germany and abroad alongside historical topics, and pairs its prototype coverage with model railway content — new products, practical tests, construction guides and layout portraits — under its long-standing motto "Vorbild und Modell" (Prototype and Model).

Overview

The Eisenbahn-Kurier appears twelve times a year and is produced entirely in-house by the EK-Verlag GmbH, which is registered in the Freiburg commercial register. The magazine's editor-in-chief is Jörg Sauter; the publishing house is managed by Ulrich Ch. Knapp and Sibylle Ehrhardt. It carries the ISSN 0170-5288.

What distinguishes the EK from many hobby magazines is its dual audience. On one side are the railway enthusiasts and modellers who form the core readership — people who photograph trains, build layouts and follow rolling-stock developments with specialist passion. On the other are professionals: managers and staff of railway companies and the rail-vehicle industry, for whom the magazine's reporting on current operations, technology and corporate developments is working reading. This dual positioning has shaped the title since its early years and gives it a weight in the German railway world that goes beyond the hobby press.

The magazine does not submit its circulation to IVW audit, so no independently verified sales figures exist. In its media data for advertising clients (as of December 2025), the publisher states a print run of 30,000 copies; until 2022 the stated figure was up to 38,000. Experience suggests that between a third and a half of the print run is actually sold, depending on subscriber numbers.

History

The Eisenbahn-Kurier traces its origins to a group of railway enthusiasts in Wuppertal, among them the railway and locomotive photographer Carl Bellingrodt. The group developed the Eisenbahn-Kurier as a newsletter, initially focused on the steam locomotives of the Deutsche Bundesbahn — the great era of German steam was then approaching its end, and documenting it was an urgent passion for the founders.

When the likewise Wuppertal-based VdEF-Mitteilungen ceased publication, the Eisenbahn-Kurier became the official organ of the Verein der Eisenbahnfreunde (VdEF), the association of railway friends. Bellingrodt bequeathed his photographic archive to the Eisenbahn-Kurier, and the magazine has published images from the collection regularly ever since — a visual treasure that gives the title a distinctive historical depth.

The publishing history reflects the magazine's growth from club newsletter to professional publishing house. From 1966 to 1974 it was issued by the Eisenbahn-Kurier e.V. in Solingen, then in Wuppertal until the end of 1976; in 1977 the operation moved to Freiburg im Breisgau, where it has remained. The EK-Verlag GmbH was established in Freiburg, was registered in Hamburg for some years from 1997, and is once again entered in the Freiburg commercial register. Since August 2022, the EK-Verlag has been part of the Stuttgart-based VMM Verlag + Medien Management Gruppe GmbH. The publishing house employs around 29 people.

Over the decades the magazine expanded its programme well beyond the monthly title. Special series were added: EK-Spezial from 1984, EK-Themen from 1990 and EK-Aspekte from 1994, each devoted to in-depth treatment of particular subjects. Since 2009, books and calendars on bus and automobile topics, commercial vehicles and urban history have complemented the railway programme.

Content and Programming

A typical issue of the Eisenbahn-Kurier runs to around 130 pages in high print and image quality. The prototype section reports monthly on current railway affairs in Germany — new rolling stock, timetable changes, infrastructure projects, company news — and carries extensive features on historical and contemporary topics. Interviews, reportage and well-researched news from railways at home and abroad round out the coverage.

The model railway section gives modellers a monthly overview of the most important new products, together with extensive practical tests, construction guides, layout portraits and reports from the numerous specialist trade fairs in Germany and abroad. The combination of prototype journalism and modelling practice is the magazine's signature: readers can follow a real locomotive class in the news pages and find the model version tested a few pages later.

The EK's special publications pursue single topics at book length, from railway regions and locomotive classes to anniversaries and industrial history. The publisher also works with companies in the German rail-vehicle industry and numerous railway operators in the German-speaking world on corporate publishing projects, a business line that draws on the editorial team's specialist expertise.

Coverage and Audience

The Eisenbahn-Kurier is sold throughout Germany and in the German-speaking neighbouring countries, at newsstands, in specialist shops and by subscription. Its audience divides, as noted, between hobbyists and professionals — a combination that makes the title's readership unusually knowledgeable and engaged.

For advertisers, the EK offers access to a precisely defined specialist public: railway enthusiasts with high spending on their hobby, and industry readers with professional purchasing relevance. The magazine's longevity — approaching sixty years of continuous publication — has built a level of reader loyalty that is rare even in the specialist press, with many subscribers having read the title for decades.

The title's authority in the railway world is reinforced by its history as an association organ and by the Bellingrodt archive, which continues to supply the magazine with historical photography of a quality few competitors can match. In the German railway-magazine market, the EK competes with titles such as Eisenbahn-Magazin and Lok Magazin, but its prototype-plus-model formula and its industrial readership give it a distinct position.

Ownership

The Eisenbahn-Kurier is published by the EK-Verlag GmbH of Freiburg im Breisgau, a specialist publisher for current and historical railway and locomotive technology, railway and transport history, model railways, urban transport and the rail-vehicle industry. The publishing house is led by Ulrich Ch. Knapp and Sibylle Ehrhardt, and the magazine's editor-in-chief is Jörg Sauter.

Since August 2022 the EK-Verlag has belonged to the VMM Verlag + Medien Management Gruppe GmbH of Stuttgart, a media management group that has brought the Freiburg publisher into a larger corporate structure while preserving its editorial identity. The EK-Verlag continues to operate from Freiburg, where it has been based since 1977.

Digital Presence

The magazine's official website at eisenbahn-kurier.de serves as the online home of the title and the publishing house, presenting current issues, the book and calendar programme, and subscription and back-issue services. The site functions both as a shop window for the monthly magazine and as the web presence of the EK-Verlag's wider publishing activities.

The EK is also present on social media, where it shares railway news, photography and issue highlights. Digital editions of the magazine are available for readers who prefer screen reading. While the print monthly remains the heart of the operation — its audience of enthusiasts and industry readers still values the physical magazine — the online channels extend the title's reach and provide a platform for the publisher's corporate-publishing and book activities.

The website field in this profile reflects the title's official online home. With the EK-Verlag's integration into the VMM group since 2022, the magazine's digital infrastructure continues to develop, supporting the monthly print edition that has been the title's foundation since 1966.