About NordHandwerk

NordHandwerk

NordHandwerk is the official member magazine of the four northern German chambers of crafts — Flensburg, Hamburg, Lübeck and Schwerin — and the leading medium for the skilled crafts sector in the north. Published by the chambers' own Verlag NordHandwerk in Hamburg, the magazine reaches the owners of more than 54,000 craft businesses by post in ten issues a year, with a team of journalists reporting on politics, the economy, tax and labour law, and the daily work of the chambers. Since its first issue in January 1985, it has grown into what its publishers call the Leitmedium of the northern crafts.

Overview

NordHandwerk is a monthly member magazine for the skilled crafts (Handwerk) of northern Germany. It appears in ten issues per year and is mailed directly and personally to the business owners: according to the 2026 media data, the circulation exceeds 54,000 copies (IVW, third quarter 2025), addressed to the decision-makers in more than 54,000 craft businesses across the chamber districts of Flensburg, Hamburg, Lübeck and Schwerin. It is read by the business owners, their employees and everyone interested in the crafts of northern Germany. The magazine is printed and also published as an e-paper, and a free NordHandwerk app delivers the complete magazine to smartphones. The editorial programme is organized into fixed sections: the monthly theme (Thema des Monats), politics and economy, a regional section, reportage, a special, tips for running the business, industry branches, news items, and a readers' opinion page. The print ISSN is 1864-7855. The publisher's imprint lists Holstenwall 12, 20355 Hamburg, as the seat of the Verlag NordHandwerk GmbH.

History

The Verlag NordHandwerk was founded in 1984 with the sole purpose of publishing the magazine of the same name; the first NordHandwerk issue appeared in January 1985. It was created as the member magazine of the northern German chambers of crafts, and the ownership structure has remained unchanged: the shareholders of the publishing company are the four publishing chambers — Flensburg, Hamburg, Lübeck and Schwerin. From the start the magazine reached some 52,000 craft and craft-like businesses in the four chamber districts, a figure that has since grown past 54,000. Over four decades the title developed from a chamber bulletin into a full business magazine for the crafts: its journalists research topics from politics, tax and labour law, report on the work of the chambers, and carry news and commercial press releases of interest to business owners. Regional political decisions are regularly commented on from the crafts' point of view, giving the magazine an advocacy voice alongside its service function. The 2026 media data presents it as "das Leitmedium für das Handwerk im Norden" — the leading medium for the northern crafts — a claim built on forty years of continuous monthly publication and on the chambers' compulsory membership, which guarantees the magazine's reach into every registered craft business.

Coverage and Content

The editorial programme combines a monthly theme special with the standing sections. Each issue leads with the Thema des Monats, an in-depth treatment of a topic chosen for its relevance to craft businesses — energy costs, skilled-worker recruitment, digitalization, succession planning and similar questions that occupy the sector. Politik & Wirtschaft covers developments in politics and the economy from the crafts' perspective, including legislation, tax law and labour law. The Regionalteil carries news from the four chamber districts, while Reportage takes readers into workshops and businesses with longer narrative pieces. The Special rubric and the Branchen pages address individual trades, Tipps für den Betrieb delivers practical management advice, Meldungen collects short news, and Ihre Meinung gives readers a voice. The Nutzenwert — the practical value for the businesses — is the stated centre of the concept: tips for business management, craft-related news, and developments in tax and labour law. Commercial press releases of interest to business owners round out the service character. The magazine thus functions simultaneously as a chamber organ, a business journal and a political commentator for the northern crafts. This triple role reflects the German Handwerk's institutional position: the chambers are public-law corporations with compulsory membership, and their magazines are the principal channel through which chamber policy, training offers and legal changes reach the businesses. NordHandwerk's commentary on regional political decisions — from state-level building regulations to procurement rules — gives the crafts a collective voice in the politics of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the three states its four chambers cover. For many craft entrepreneurs the magazine is, in the publisher's words, an important decision aid in daily business management: the one publication that arrives unasked, is addressed to them personally, and speaks their language — whether the topic is the new skilled-immigration rules or the next round of energy-price relief.

Organization and Ownership

NordHandwerk is published by the Verlag NordHandwerk GmbH, Holstenwall 12, 20355 Hamburg, whose shareholders are the four publishing chambers: the Handwerkskammer Flensburg, the Handwerkskammer Hamburg, the Handwerkskammer Lübeck and the Handwerkskammer Schwerin. The chambers are represented by a publishers' committee made up of their chief executives — Björn Geertz, Christoph Herting, Christian Maack and Dr. Gunnar Pohl, according to the imprint. The managing director of the publishing company is Christoph Herting, and the editor responsible in the sense of press law (V.i.S.d.P.) is Dr. Thomas Meyer-Lüttge, who is also listed as editor-in-chief. Advertising sales, publishing services and production are handled by the Max Schmidt-Römhild GmbH & Co. KG in Lübeck (Konrad-Adenauer-Straße 4, 23558 Lübeck). The commercial model is the classic chamber magazine: the compulsory membership of craft businesses in their chambers funds the distribution, while advertising — sold on the argument that an ad in NordHandwerk reaches the most important decision-makers of the northern crafts, exclusively and without waste — provides the second revenue pillar. The 2026 media data sells exactly this: a printed medium with high credibility and excellent advertising impact, delivered personally to the business owners.

Digital Presence

The magazine's digital home is nord-handwerk.de (also reachable via nordhandwerk.de), which carries current articles, the media data with the title portrait, and the e-paper editions of past issues. The free NordHandwerk app delivers the complete magazine to smartphones on publication, allowing readers to read it whenever and wherever they want. The chambers' own sites, such as that of the Handwerkskammer Lübeck, present the magazine with links to the e-paper archive, the app and the advertising contacts. NordHandwerk is also present on Facebook, Instagram and X, extending the monthly print rhythm into social channels. The imprint page lists the publisher's contact data — telephone 040 35905 222, email info@nord-handwerk.de — and the commercial register number HRA 80580 with VAT ID DE406944498. Between the website, the app, the e-paper and the social accounts, the magazine maintains a complete digital offering, though the printed issue mailed to the business owners remains the core product and the basis of the advertising argument. The 2026 media data makes the print case explicitly: as a printed medium the magazine enjoys high credibility and excellent advertising impact, and an advertisement reaches the most important decision-makers of the northern crafts exclusively, precisely and without scatter loss. That proposition — 54,000 named business owners, ten times a year, in the mailbox — is the reason the title has survived four decades of media change while many general-interest print magazines have folded. The e-paper and the app serve the readers who prefer screens; the print issue serves the advertisers who pay for certainty of delivery.