About Höchster Kreisblatt

Höchster Kreisblatt

The Höchster Kreisblatt (HK) is a German daily newspaper for Frankfurt-Höchst, the western districts of Frankfurt am Main and the Main-Taunus district in Hesse. Founded in 1849, it is one of the older local newspapers of the Rhine-Main region, with a publishing history of more than 175 years. The paper appears as a Kopfblatt of the Frankfurter Neue Presse (FNP), which it joined in July 1965, and is published and printed by the Frankfurter Societäts-Medien GmbH. The paper has appeared in the Berlin format since 2025. Its circulation is reported together with the Main-Taunus district edition of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung, at around 37,630 copies in earlier years. The paper's digital home is the FNP online portal at fnp.de.

Overview

The Höchster Kreisblatt is published six days a week as a subscription daily in the Frankfurter Neue Presse's edition system. The FNP city edition covers Frankfurt's inner city and the southern, northern and eastern districts; several Kopfblätter with different regional sections and titles cover the rest of the distribution area: the Höchster Kreisblatt for the western Frankfurt districts and the Main-Taunus district, the former Landkreis Höchst, the Nassauische Neue Presse for the Limburg region, the Taunus-Zeitung with the Usinger Neue Presse for the Hochtaunus district, the Bad Vilbeler Neue Presse for Bad Vilbel, Karben and the Wetterau, and the Neu-Isenburger Neue Presse for Neu-Isenburg and the Offenbach district.

The paper's distribution area is Höchst, the historic town on the Main incorporated into Frankfurt in 1928, known for the Höchst old town, the Justinuskirche and the former Hoechst chemical works, the western Frankfurt districts from Unterliederbach to Zeilsheim, and the Main-Taunus district with towns including Hofheim am Taunus, the district town, Hattersheim, Flörsheim, Hochheim, Bad Soden, Schwalbach, Eschborn and Kelkheim. The paper traditionally reports from Höchst, the Frankfurt West and the former Landkreis Höchst.

The audience of the Höchster Kreisblatt is the population of Frankfurt's western districts and the Main-Taunus district: households that value a daily paper with 175 years of presence in the region, from the Höchst old town's residents to the commuters of the Taunus foothills. The Main-Taunus district, one of the most prosperous districts of Hesse, gives the paper's economic and real-estate coverage a readership with strong purchasing power.

History

The Höchster Kreisblatt was founded in 1849 as a newspaper for Höchst, then an independent town in the Duchy of Nassau. Across more than 175 years it accompanied the town through industrialization, the rise of the Hoechst chemical works, incorporation into Frankfurt in 1928, two world wars and the post-war period, developing into the established home paper of Frankfurt's west.

In July 1965 the Höchster Kreisblatt joined the newspaper group of the Frankfurter Neue Presse, ending its independence and uniting it with Frankfurt's post-war daily. The Frankfurter Societäts-Druckerei, which had bought the Frankfurter Neue Presse in 1958, consolidated the Frankfurt newspaper market in the 1960s: the Nassauer Bote with the Limburger Neue Presse was taken over in 1963, the Höchster Kreisblatt followed in 1965, the Abendpost was taken over in 1966 and merged with the Nachtausgabe, and the Taunus-Zeitung completed the process in 1970.

The change of ownership of the FNP group was finalized in early April 2018. In August 2021 the Zeitungsholding Hessen and the VRM media company considered selling several local papers, affecting also local titles of the FNP; the transactions were partially completed on 1 October 2022. Since 2025 the paper has appeared in the Berlin format. Like the rest of the German regional press, the paper has lost circulation in recent decades, yet the Höchster Kreisblatt continues to appear daily with local reporting from Höchst and the Main-Taunus district.

Coverage and Content

The local section of the Höchster Kreisblatt covers Höchst, Frankfurt's western districts and the Main-Taunus district. Regular topics include the town councils and the district administration of the Main-Taunus district, urban development in the historic Höchst old town, the transformation of the former Hoechst industrial park, the regional economy of the Rhine-Main region with the Frankfurt financial centre nearby, the Taunus foothills' residential communities, schools and education, health care, the police blotter, club and association life, church news, culture and events with the Höchster Schlossfest and the district's festivals, and local sport. The Main river landscape and the Taunus give the paper's community reporting a distinctive local colour.

The FNP's regional and national pages cover the Rhine-Main region, Hessian state politics, German federal politics, international news, the economy, culture and sport. The FNP group's Kopfblätter, from the Taunus-Zeitung in the Hochtaunus district to the Nassauische Neue Presse in the Limburg region, form a ring of local journalism around Frankfurt that gives the region one of the most fine-grained local press landscapes in Hesse. Weekend editions carry expanded magazine content. The division between the centrally produced sections and the locally produced pages gives readers a complete daily newspaper: the breadth of a large regional newsroom combined with the proximity of journalists who report from Höchst and the Main-Taunus district.

Advertising in the Höchster Kreisblatt reaches households in Frankfurt's western districts and the Main-Taunus district precisely, making the paper an important medium for local retailers, craftsmen, service providers, the real-estate market and job advertisements.

Organization and Ownership

The Höchster Kreisblatt is published as a Kopfblatt of the Frankfurter Neue Presse by the Frankfurter Societäts-Medien GmbH in Frankfurt am Main. The FNP group belongs to the Zeitungsholding Hessen. The paper is printed in the group's production facilities and distributed to subscribers each morning from Monday to Saturday across Frankfurt's western districts and the Main-Taunus district.

The subscription model dominates sales, with the paper's circulation reported together with the Main-Taunus district edition of the Rhein-Main-Zeitung. The edition operates within the group's shared services for printing, distribution, digital publishing and advertising sales, while the local newsroom retains editorial responsibility for the local pages that define the Höchster Kreisblatt's identity as the home paper of Frankfurt's west.

Digital Presence

The digital home of the Höchster Kreisblatt is the Frankfurter Neue Presse online portal at fnp.de, where Höchst and Main-Taunus news appears as a local section. Readers can follow reporting on the website, in the group's news app and through the e-paper edition, which reproduces the printed paper page for page for reading on tablets, smartphones and computers.

The portal operates on the paid-content model: full article texts are generally reserved for subscribers, while headlines and teasers are visible to all visitors. On social media, the FNP's channels distribute headlines from the Rhine-Main region, including Höchst stories, and provide a point of contact between the newsroom and its readers. For the Höchster Kreisblatt, digital channels serve readers within the distribution area who prefer to read on their phones as well as former residents who have moved away from Frankfurt's west but want to stay informed about their home region. The printed paper remains the core product, carrying forward a publishing tradition that began in 1849 in the historic town on the Main. The Höchster Kreisblatt's 175-year history in Höchst, from the independent town in the Duchy of Nassau to the western districts of Germany's financial capital, mirrors the transformation of the entire Rhine-Main region, and the paper has chronicled every stage of that journey.