About Murrhardter Zeitung

Murrhardter Zeitung

The Murrhardter Zeitung is a daily newspaper serving the town of Murrhardt in the Rems-Murr district of Baden-Württemberg. Published since 1884 by the same publishing family in its fourth generation, it is one of the oldest continuously published local newspapers in the region. With sold circulation of 1,326 copies, it is among the smallest German dailies, and its mantle comes from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten while its regional and local pages are produced by the Backnanger Kreiszeitung. The paper's survival across 14 decades testifies to the loyalty of its Murr valley readership.

Overview

The Murrhardter Zeitung appears daily, covering Murrhardt, a town of around 14,000 people in the Murr valley at the edge of the Swabian-Franconian Forest, and its surrounding villages and districts such as Fornsbach. The paper's sold circulation of 1,326 copies makes it one of the smallest subscription dailies in Germany, serving a compact circulation area in the northeastern Rems-Murr district.

The paper has no editorial office of its own anymore: the mantle section is taken from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, the regional section from the Backnanger Kreiszeitung, which also produces the local pages for Murrhardt. The Murrhardter Zeitung is the official gazette of the town of Murrhardt, publishing its public notices, a function that underscores its institutional role in the community despite its small size and the absence of a dedicated newsroom.

The audience is the population of Murrhardt and its districts: residents of a former climatic health resort known for its monastery, its Roman Limes heritage with the excavations of the Roman fort, and its position as a recreational area for the Stuttgart region. The paper's readers include the employees of local businesses, commuters to Backnang and Stuttgart, and the long-established families of the Murr valley, many of whom have subscribed for generations.

History

The first issue of the Murrhardter Zeitung appeared in September 1884, with the subtitle Allgemeines Anzeige- und Unterhaltungsblatt für die Stadt Murrhardt und Umgegend, published by Bernhard Trefz. This began the success story of a local newspaper that still appears under the same title today and is published by the same publishing family in its fourth generation. The 125th anniversary in 2009 was marked with an illustrated special publication including a comprehensive history of the paper since 1884.

The paper had two short-lived predecessors: the Murrhardter Anzeiger, published from 1870 to 1876, and the Hinterwäldler of 1878/79, of which unfortunately no copies survive. Only with Bernhard Trefz's founding in 1884 did Murrhardt gain a lasting local newspaper. The town's chronicle records that the first issue was printed on 27 September 1884.

Murrhardt in 1884 was a small town shaped by its monastery, its crafts, and the beginnings of industrialization: the railway had arrived in 1878, weaving mills, scale factories, tanneries, and leather works were being established, the savings bank had opened in 1880, and the town was developing into a summer resort and recreational area for Stuttgart. The newspaper documented this transformation across the decades, through the German Empire, the world wars, and the postwar Federal Republic, recording the town's growth from a craft settlement to a modern small town.

In August 2026, it was announced that the Zeitungsverlag Waiblingen would take over the Backnanger Kreiszeitung and the Murrhardter Zeitung, with the takeover and integration of the Backnang and Murrhardt publishing houses to be completed by the end of January 2027 at the latest. This development brings the small Murrhardt paper into the Waiblingen publishing group, which also publishes the Waiblinger Kreiszeitung, the Schorndorfer Nachrichten, and the Winnender Zeitung.

Coverage and Content

The Murrhardter Zeitung's local pages, produced by the Backnanger Kreiszeitung's editorial team, focus on Murrhardt and its districts: town council decisions, district news from the Rems-Murr-Kreis, school topics, construction and infrastructure projects, and the activities of local clubs and associations. The town's monastery church, its Roman history along the Limes with the fort excavations, and its natural setting in the Swabian-Franconian Forest nature park provide distinctive material, as do the hiking trails and the Stromberg-Murrtal cycle path that bring visitors to the valley.

The mantle from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten supplies national and international politics, the economy, culture, and sport. The regional section from the Backnanger Kreiszeitung covers the Rems-Murr district and the surrounding region. As the town's official gazette, the paper publishes Murrhardt's public notices and official announcements.

Special pages and supplements follow the local calendar: school enrollment specials, Christmas features, and themed pages around town festivals and the Murr valley's traditional events. The paper covers local sports, particularly football and hiking club activities, with results from the district leagues. Reader letters provide a forum for civic debate in the small-town community.

The paper's long archive, stretching back to 1884, gives its anniversary features and historical retrospectives exceptional depth. The 2009 special publication for the 125th anniversary drew on this archive to document the town's transformation across 125 years, with the central contribution by Andreas Kozlik describing Murrhardt as it looked in 1884 and tracing the paper's development through the tenures of the publishing family.

Organization and Ownership

The Murrhardter Zeitung has been published by the same family in its fourth generation since its founding by Bernhard Trefz in 1884, a remarkable continuity in the German regional press. With the announced takeover by the Zeitungsverlag Waiblingen, to be completed by the end of January 2027, the paper is set to join the Waiblingen publishing group, ending more than 140 years of family ownership while securing the title's continuation.

The Zeitungsverlag Waiblingen was formed in 1971 through the merger of four previously independent publishers and publishes the Waiblinger Kreiszeitung, the Schorndorfer Nachrichten, the Winnender Zeitung, and the Backnanger Kreiszeitung. Its 35 editors produce the local sections at four locations, with the supraregional content taken from the Stuttgarter Nachrichten as mantle partner. The publishing house has won the German Local Journalism Prize in 2006 and 2021, awarded by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

The Murrhardter Zeitung has no editorial office of its own; its local pages are produced by the Backnanger Kreiszeitung's editorial team. The paper's business operations, including advertising sales and distribution for the small circulation area, have been managed within the family publishing house.

Digital Presence

The Murrhardter Zeitung maintains an online presence at murrhardter-zeitung.de, where the paper's content is published digitally. The website carries local news from Murrhardt alongside the paper's wider coverage, extending the small paper's reach beyond its print circulation. As the town's official gazette, the paper's digital channels also serve the distribution of public notices, and the site provides subscription and contact information for the Murrhardt readership.

The digital offering of the small paper is modest compared to larger regional dailies, reflecting its circulation of 1,326 copies and its production within the Backnanger Kreiszeitung's operations. The forthcoming integration into the Zeitungsverlag Waiblingen group is expected to bring the Murrhardter Zeitung into the group's digital infrastructure, giving the 1884-founded title access to modern publishing systems.

Social media channels distribute the paper's content and engage readers, carrying local headlines and community announcements to followers. For the Murrhardter Zeitung, the digital platform provides a way to reach younger readers in the Murr valley and former residents who follow their hometown from elsewhere, complementing the print edition that has served the town since 1884.