About K-Zeitung

K-Zeitung

The K-Zeitung is the trade newspaper of the plastics industry: published fortnightly — 26 times a year — by the Giesel Verlag in Isernhagen near Hanover, the paper covers the trends and developments in plastics and rubber as "Kunststoff und Kautschuk: das Branchenblatt der Kunststoffindustrie". Founded in 1969 as the K-Plastic- & Kautschuk-Zeitung, the paper celebrated its 50th anniversary in October 2019.

Overview

K-Zeitung appears every 14 days, 26 times yearly, as the industry paper for plastics and rubber. The publisher is the Giesel Verlag GmbH, Rehkamp 3, 30916 Isernhagen (with an Augsburg office). The publisher (Herausgeber) is Joachim Rönisch; the editor-in-chief is Günter Kögel. The bibliographic data: ISSN 1436-6401 (print), ZDB 2212996-0.

The paper addresses the management and the technology of the plastics industry: the injection molders, the extruders, the compounders, the machine builders, the material producers. The offering extends beyond the print: the K-ePaper (fortnightly digital), the K-ZEITUNGonline (the industry meeting point on the internet), and the K-Archiv with more than 19,000 articles. The sister publications: the K-Extra (the official trade-fair newspaper for the K in Düsseldorf) and the Kunststoff-Berater (the engineering magazine, 10 issues yearly).

The Rupprecht Era

The Rupprecht era that shaped the K-Zeitung spanned over 26 years: Hartmut Rupprecht, the founder of the K-Plastic- & Kautschuk-Zeitung, led the paper from the October 1969 first issue through the 1974 move to the Giesel Verlag until his 1995 transition to the publishing role. Rupprecht was the industry's journalist: organizing the early reader trips to the world's plastics fairs in Japan and the USA, when such travel was still the adventure.

With Dietrich Taubert handling the commercial side, Rupprecht built the paper into the industry's institution: the fortnightly rhythm, the fair coverage, the reader loyalty. The "Kunststoff-Gespräch" that the two initiated became the branch event, held for the 40th time in the year before Rupprecht's death. The "K-Extra" as the official on-site fair newspaper for the Düsseldorf K made the paper the fair's voice. Rupprecht died in Lübeck at 87; Joachim Rönisch, who had succeeded him as editor-in-chief in 1995, still serves as the publisher, carrying the era's legacy.

History

K-Zeitung's history begins in October 1969: the first issue of the "K-Plastic- & Kautschuk-Zeitung" (KPZ) appeared in the Hamburg Garrels Verlag under the editorial leadership of Hartmut Rupprecht. In April 1974 the KPZ became the Giesel Verlag's new trade newspaper in Isernhagen near Hanover; Rupprecht drove the development together with Dietrich Taubert, who handled the commercial side.

Rupprecht shaped the paper for over 26 years: organizing early reader trips to the world's plastics fairs in Japan and the USA, initiating with Taubert the "Kunststoff-Gespräch" industry event (held for the 40th time in the year before his death), and producing the "K-Extra" as the official on-site fair newspaper for the K in Düsseldorf. In 1995 Rupprecht moved from the editorship to the publishing role, which he held for three more years; Joachim Rönisch succeeded him as editor-in-chief in 1995 and still serves as publisher. Rupprecht died in Lübeck at 87. In 2012 the K-Berater was merged into the paper. The 50th anniversary came in October 2019.

Coverage and Content

The plastics-industry coverage is the core: the trends and developments in plastics and rubber, the materials, the processing, the machines, the applications. The fortnightly rhythm delivers the news: the company reports, the product innovations, the market developments, the personnel changes. The management readers get the strategy: the markets, the investments, the mergers. The technology readers get the practice: the injection molding, the extrusion, the tooling, the recycling.

The K-Extra serves the trade fair: the official newspaper for the K in Düsseldorf, the world's leading plastics and rubber fair, produced on-site with the dates and the fair information. The Kunststoff-Gespräch serves the networking: the industry event bringing together the branch's people. The archive serves the research: over 19,000 articles documenting the industry's decades.

The Plastics Industry

The plastics and rubber industry that the K-Zeitung serves is one of Germany's key industries: the material producers, the processors, the machine builders, the recyclers. The industry's themes are the paper's themes: the sustainability and the circular economy, the digitalization, the skilled-worker recruitment, the energy costs, the regulation.

The paper's role is the industry's mirror: fortnightly, the branch sees itself — the trends, the developments, the people. The readers are the decision-makers: the management and the technology, the owners and the engineers. In the industry where the K fair sets the triennial rhythm, the K-Zeitung keeps the fortnightly: the continuous information between the fairs, the K-Extra at the fair.

The Fortnightly Rhythm

The fortnightly rhythm that the K-Zeitung keeps — 26 issues a year — is the industry's heartbeat: faster than the monthly magazines, more reflective than the daily news. The 14-day cycle delivers what the plastics people need: the news while it's news, the analysis while it matters, the regularity the planners can rely on.

The fortnightly paper serves the decision-makers: the management reading for the strategy, the technicians reading for the practice. The subscription packages bundle the value: the K-ZEITUNG fortnightly for management and technology, the K-ePaper fortnightly digital, the Kunststoff-Berater (10 issues yearly) for the technicians and engineers, the K-Archiv access with the 19,000+ articles, the K-ZEITUNGonline as the branch meeting point. In the trade press where the monthly is the norm, the K-Zeitung's fortnightly is the distinction: twice the frequency, twice the presence, for the industry that moves fast.

Organization and Ownership

K-Zeitung is published by the Giesel Verlag GmbH, Rehkamp 3, D-30916 Isernhagen (Tel. 0511/73 04-0, giesel@giesel.de). The publisher (Herausgeber) is Joachim Rönisch; the editor-in-chief is Günter Kögel. The founder Hartmut Rupprecht and the commercial lead Dietrich Taubert built the paper from 1969/1974. The bibliographic identifiers: ISSN 1436-6401, ZDB 2212996-0.

The Giesel House

The Giesel Verlag that publishes the K-Zeitung is the Isernhagen specialist for the plastics media: Rehkamp 3, 30916 Isernhagen, the house of the K-ZEITUNG, the K-Extra, and the Kunststoff-Berater. The publishing program serves the one industry deeply: the fortnightly newspaper for the management and technology, the official fair newspaper for the K, the engineering magazine for the technicians.

The Giesel house's history is the K-Zeitung's history since April 1974: the Verlag taking over the KPZ as its new trade newspaper, building it with Rupprecht and Taubert into the Branchenblatt. The Augsburg office (Gögginger Straße 105a) extends the southern presence. The K-Berater's 2012 merger into the paper consolidated the portfolio. In the trade publishing where the conglomerates dominate, Giesel is the specialist: the Isernhagen house for the plastics industry, fortnightly, since 1974.

Digital Presence

The k-zeitung.de website is the digital home: the K-ZEITUNGonline as the industry's meeting point on the internet. The K-ePaper delivers the fortnightly issues digitally; the K-Archiv offers the 19,000+ articles for research. The Giesel Verlag's sites (giesel.de, giesel-verlag.de) present the publishing house and its plastics portfolio.

For the plastics industry, the K-Zeitung is the paper: the fortnightly Branchenblatt for Kunststoff und Kautschuk, from the 1969 KPZ founding to the Isernhagen present and beyond. With the Giesel Verlag, the K-Extra fair paper, and the Kunststoff-Gespräch event, the K-Zeitung serves the industry: the trends, the developments, and the people, into the future, without compromise, today and tomorrow, always, fortnightly, today.