About Journal Frankfurt

Journal Frankfurt

Journal Frankfurt is the city magazine of Frankfurt am Main: published by the independent Presse Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, the magazine has been the leading Frankfurt city illustrated since October 1990. Appearing monthly, with the online magazine, the weekday newsletter "Journal – der Tag," the app, and the podcast "Journal Frankfurt – Die Woche," the Journal serves the Frankfurt and Rhine-Main region: the city politics, the people, the culture, the leisure, the going out, the celebrating, and the shopping, in print and digital.

Overview

Journal Frankfurt appears monthly as the city magazine: the medium for the Frankfurters and the Rhine-Main region's residents, the Main metropolis's urbanites. The editorial program delivers the city journalism: the exciting reportages, the pointed perspectives, and the exclusive interviews on the city events in politics, culture, and society, plus the compact event calendar and the TV program that the Frankfurters use daily. The service section is the readers' favorite: the restaurant openings, the nightlife highlights, the children's and families' events, and the extras and discounts that make the city life richer.

The magazine's reach is the city's largest: with around 30,000 copies and some 100,000 readers, the Journal was Germany's highest-circulation city magazine, ahead of Berlin's Tip and Zitty, a position it has defended for decades. The online magazine achieves 1.3 million page views per month and reaches more than 250,000 readers: the digital Frankfurt that complements the print. The online newsletter "Journal – der Tag" is sent weekdays to 50,000 subscribers: the city's day, delivered every morning. Since early 2018 the Journal app extends the mobile: the digital edition optimized for tablets, linked with journal-frankfurt.de, free for the print subscribers.

The Frankfurters' City

The Frankfurt that Journal Frankfurt serves is the Main metropolis: the financial center with the European Central Bank, the cultural city with the Museumsufer, and the diverse metropolis with the 180 nationalities. The Frankfurters' city life is the magazine's subject: the politics in the Römer, the culture on the stages, and the leisure along the Main. The magazine speaks to the urbanites: the young professionals, the families, and the culture lovers.

The Rhine-Main region extends the city: the suburbs and the towns whose residents work in Frankfurt and play in Frankfurt. The magazine's subscription, exclusively for the Rhine-Main residents, reflects this: the regional medium for the metropolitan region. The 100,000 readers and the 250,000 online users document the reach: the Frankfurters informing themselves about their city. In the metropolis where the global meets the local, the magazine is the local voice: the Stadtmagazin that the Frankfurters trust.

History

Journal Frankfurt's history begins in October 1990: the new city illustrated emerged from the merger of the two competing city magazines, the leftist Pflasterstrand and the Auftritt, a historic moment for the Frankfurt press. The Pflasterstrand's founder and publisher Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the Green politician, remains closely connected to the Journal and wrote regularly as a columnist until 2017, a living link to the alternative press. The first editor-in-chief was the publicist and "futurist" Matthias Horx, previously active for the Pflasterstrand, who shaped the new magazine's voice.

The merger's story is the Frankfurt alternative press's professionalization: the Pflasterstrand, the underground paper turned glossy magazine under Matthias Kierzek (Eichborn co-founder), was sold in August 1990 to the Presse Verlagsgesellschaft mbH of Jan-Peter Eichhorn and Gerhard Krauß, who had published the competing Auftritt since 1982. In September 1990 both monthly titles were discontinued; the two formerly competing teams developed together, led by Horx and Hartwin Möhrle from the Pflasterstrand, the new fortnightly city illustrated that appeared in October 1990 as Journal Frankfurt and quickly became the leading Frankfurt city magazine.

The editorial leadership evolved: Helmut Ortner, Boris Tomic, Nils Bremer, and as the first woman in the 30-year history, Ronja Merkel (September 2018 to June 2021); since October 1, Jasmin Schülke has held the post. Until December 2017 the magazine appeared fortnightly; with the January 2018 issue the publisher switched to monthly.

Coverage and Content

The city-politics coverage addresses the Frankfurt: the Römer's decisions, the developments, and the debates. The culture coverage addresses the scene: the museums, the theaters, and the music. The people coverage addresses the Frankfurters: the interviews and the portraits. The leisure coverage addresses the going out: the restaurants, the nightlife, and the events.

The service section is the magazine's heart: the event calendar with over 2,000 dates in Frankfurt and Rhine-Main, the TV program, and the classifieds. The special publications extend the brand: "Hessen vom Besten," "Frankfurt mit Kindern," "Frankfurt geht grün," "Rhein-Main geht aus!," "Feste Feiern in Frankfurt und Rhein-Main," and "Frankfurt kauft ein!," with the gastro guide "Frankfurt geht aus!" the best known. The sister magazines include the KinoJournal, the UniJournal, and the Party Magazin PUR.

The City Magazine

The city magazine that Journal Frankfurt is serves the urban lifestyle: the Frankfurters navigating their city's offerings. The magazine's mix of the journalism and the service is the formula: the reportages that explain the city, the calendar that fills the evenings. The subscription's attractiveness is legendary: the premium subscriptions with the hotel vouchers, the Plopsaland tickets, and the special issues, exclusively for the Rhine-Main residents.

The digital transformation extended the magazine: the online magazine's 1.3 million monthly page views, the weekday newsletter's 50,000 subscribers, the app's tablet edition, and the weekly podcast "Journal Frankfurt – Die Woche," unfiltered and direct from the Ludwigstraße publishing house. In the city where the finance meets the culture, the magazine tells the Frankfurters what their city offers: the Stadtmagazin since 1990, today and tomorrow, always, without fail.

Organization and Ownership

Journal Frankfurt is published by the Presse Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt am Main. The publishers (Herausgeber) are Jan-Peter Eichhorn and Gerhard Krauß. The editor-in-chief is Jasmin Schülke (since October 2021). The special publications' editor-in-chief is Bastian Fiebig. The business model is the city-magazine model: the subscriptions (49.80 euros per year for new customers, Rhine-Main only), the newsstand sales, and the advertising from the city's businesses.

Digital Presence

The journal-frankfurt.de online magazine is the digital home: the news, the infos, and the tips on the city politics, people, culture, leisure, going out, celebrating, and shopping, researched and prepared by the editors. The "Journal – der Tag" newsletter delivers the weekdays: 50,000 subscribers. The Journal app (since 2018) provides the tablet edition: free for the print subscribers. The "Journal Frankfurt – Die Woche" podcast talks weekly about Frankfurt: unfiltered, from the Ludwigstraße. The JOURNAL-KIOSK app offers the digital editions and the special editions.

For the Frankfurters, Journal Frankfurt is the Stadtmagazin: the monthly magazine with the exciting reportages, the pointed perspectives, and the exclusive interviews on the city events in politics, culture, and society, plus the compact event calendar with the 2,000+ dates, the TV program, and the service. With the online magazine's 1.3 million monthly page views, the weekday "Journal – der Tag" newsletter's 50,000 subscribers, the app's tablet edition, and the weekly "Journal Frankfurt – Die Woche" podcast, the Journal is the multimedia city medium. Since 1990, from the Pflasterstrand and Auftritt merger through the Cohn-Bendit columns and the Horx editorship, the magazine has been the leading Frankfurt city illustrated: the city's medium, for the Main metropolis, into the future, without compromise, every month, always, since 1990.