About MOBIL SZENE aktuell

MOBIL SZENE aktuell

MOBIL SZENE aktuell — usually abbreviated MSa or MobilSzene — is the association magazine of the Reisemobil Union e. V. (RU), the German motorhome owners' association. Published as the digital magazine of the association, it serves the members of what the Union describes as Europe's largest national motorhome association: the community of Reisemobilfahrerinnen und Reisemobilfahrer — motorhome drivers — in Germany and beyond. First published in 1997, the magazine documented the association's life for a quarter-century in print before the printed version was discontinued in 2022 for cost reasons; since then it appears digitally. Its initiators included Andreas Bues — the founder of Germany's first motorhome magazine promobil (1983), publisher of the Mobil Total pitch magazine, and legendary industry figure under his pseudonym Alfred Alkoven — who stood by the Union's founding fathers from the first hour. The 1/2026 issue, published in the association's relaunch year, shows a magazine that has reinvented itself with its association: fresh wind and digital focus.

Overview

The magazine presents itself as the digital magazine of the Reisemobil-Union e. V. — the association's own publication for its members. Its editorial program covers the motorhome life in its full breadth: association news and the Union's political work as the interest representation of motorhome drivers; travel reports from members' journeys; technical topics — the tachograph obligation for heavy motorhomes, vehicle technology, equipment; pitch (Stellplatz) information — the overnight-parking infrastructure that is the motorhomer's daily concern; industry news — the caravaning market statistics, new models, the Promobil readers' awards; and the legal and regulatory questions that affect mobile leisure, from driving-license law to local parking bans.

The readership is the Union's membership: motorhome owners and enthusiasts of all experience levels, vehicle sizes, and travel habits — the association understands itself as the interest representation for all, independent of experience, vehicle size, or travel style. The magazine is made for the members, as the editors emphasize in their repeated calls for contributions: readers write about their experiences, problems, and wishes; they send travel reports; the editors revise the texts so they remain authentic but journalistically sound. The contact address presse@reisemobilunion.de and the deadlines published in each issue (for example, June 15, 2024, for the 02/2024 issue) document the participatory model.

The 1/2026 issue — published after the association's 2025 new beginning — illustrates the program: the caravaning market 2025 (94,134 new leisure-vehicle registrations, 2.3 percent below the record prior year; 192,239 ownership changes, a new record; 75,368 new motorhomes, the third-best result ever), the Promobil Best Brands Award, the Thetford industry news, and the association's political positions. The magazine's sections — Aktuelles, Forum, Szene RU, Szene Stellplatz — structure the mix of industry news, member debate, association life, and pitch information.

History

The magazine's history is inseparable from the association's. The Reisemobil Union was born on October 7, 1989, when motorhome clubs joined forces to counter negative competitive currents in public — already at that time, the founders understood the importance of the clubs forming a lobby to represent their rights concretely and emphatically. In 1994 the magazine "Mobil-Szene aktuell" appeared for the first time; in 1996 the RU was registered as an eingetragener Verein (registered association). The initiators and founders of the association's own magazine included Andreas Bues — the founder of the motorhome specialist magazine promobil in 1983, for over 25 years the publisher of the Mobil Total pitch magazine and of the RU's club magazine — who had stood by the Union's founding fathers with advice and action from the first hour and, under his pseudonym Alfred Alkoven, reported not uncritically on motorhome developments in various media.

For a quarter-century, the magazine appeared in print, documenting the association's growth into what it describes as Europe's largest national motorhome association. The printed version was discontinued in 2022 for cost reasons — the economic pressures on association publishing in the digital age. Since then, the magazine appears digitally, with issues such as 01/2023, 01/2024, 02/2024, 01/2025, and 01/2026 published as digital editions on the association's website.

After 35 years of successful work, 2025 brought a new beginning: resignations in the presidium and structural challenges cleared the way for a reorganization that the members unanimously supported at the annual general meeting — "fresh wind and digital focus." The 1/2026 issue appeared in this relaunch context. Andreas Bues, who ended his professional career at 70, was honored in the 02/2024 issue as a founding figure of the German motorhome press — the "Urgestein" (veteran) of the industry who had contributed to the success of motorhome tourism in Europe.

Coverage and Content

The magazine's coverage follows the motorhomer's year. Association and political reporting covers the Union's work as the interest representation: the lobbying for motorhome drivers' institutional, political, and economic interests in Germany and beyond, the legal questions — tachograph obligations for combinations over 7.5 tonnes, the BALM's positions, the ADAC's assessments — and the regulatory developments that affect mobile leisure. The "Forum" section gives space to the technical-legal debates, such as the 2025 detailed table on when a tachograph is required for which vehicle combination.

Travel and pitch coverage forms the lifestyle core: members' travel reports, pitch (Stellplatz) information and the "Szene Stellplatz" section, destination features, and the practical knowledge of the road — the magazine's editors explicitly invite members to send their Germany-travel photos and reports. Industry coverage follows the caravaning market: the annual registration statistics (the 2025 market report in the 1/2026 issue), manufacturer news, the Promobil Best Brands Award — one of the European motorhome industry's most important honors, awarded annually at the CMT in Stuttgart — and the supplier industry.

The "Szene RU" section documents the association's internal life: honors for long-serving supporters, reports from the trade-fair stands (such as the Munich fair report with the RU-Express fair newspaper, the e-bike raffle, and the 29 trial memberships won), and the presidium's communications. The participatory model — members writing for members, with editorial revision — gives the magazine its community character.

Organization and Ownership

MOBIL SZENE aktuell is published by the Reisemobil Union e. V., the German motorhome owners' association headquartered in the context of its Wachtberg-area operations (the row places the title in Wachtberg, North Rhine-Westphalia). The association, founded October 7, 1989, and registered as an e. V. in 1996, understands itself as the interest representation for all motorhome drivers — independent of experience, vehicle size, or travel habits — representing their institutional, political, and economic interests in Germany and beyond.

The magazine's founding generation included Andreas Bues — founder of promobil (1983), publisher of Mobil Total and of the RU club magazine for over 25 years, writing as Alfred Alkoven — who shaped the association's publishing from the first hour until his retirement at 70, honored in the 02/2024 issue. The 2025 reorganization, unanimously supported at the annual general meeting after presidium resignations, gave the association and its magazine a new leadership and a digital-focused orientation.

Circulation figures for the current year are not publicly confirmed; as a digital association magazine, its distribution follows the membership. The commercial model is that of an association publication: financed within the association's budget, supported by the Fördermitglieder (sponsoring members) whose flyers appear at the trade-fair stands, and distributed digitally to the members — the cost-driven discontinuation of the print edition in 2022 marking the economic realities of association publishing.

Digital Presence

The magazine's digital home is reisemobil-union.de, where the digital editions — 01/2023, 01/2024, 02/2024, 01/2025, 01/2026 — are published as PDFs for the members and the interested public. The 2025 relaunch's motto, "fresh wind and digital focus," defines the digital strategy: the association's communications, the magazine's distribution, and the members' participation all run through the digital channels. The editorial calls for contributions — "the magazine is made for the members, for you" — arrive digitally, with the presse@reisemobilunion.de address as the submission channel.

The association's trade-fair presence — the Munich fair stand with the MSa magazine, the RU-Express fair newspaper, and the e-bike raffle — extends the digital magazine into the physical community, while the digital editions carry the fair reports back to the members. The 1/2026 issue's market reporting, with its detailed caravaning statistics, shows the digital magazine's capacity for the data journalism of the industry. As the digital magazine of Europe's largest national motorhome association, MOBIL SZENE aktuell documents the motorhome life in the digital age: the members' travels, the association's politics, and the industry's numbers — from the 1997 first issue to the 2026 relaunch.