About Pirsch

Pirsch

PIRSCH is a German-language hunting media brand of the dlv Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag, based in Munich. The brand comprises the printed magazine — published 22 times a year — alongside the online portal pirsch.de, newsletters, additional digital offerings, social media channels and special issues. The first issue appeared in 1948, making PIRSCH one of the oldest continuously published hunting magazines in Germany. Its editor-in-chief since September 2020 is Martin Weber. The print edition's distributed circulation stood at 23,714 copies in the first quarter of 2026 (IVW), while the pirsch.de portal reaches around 3 million page impressions per month.

Overview

PIRSCH appears in its printed edition 22 times a year and is sold at newsstands and by subscription, with its main distribution area in southern and western Germany as well as Switzerland and Austria. According to the publisher, pirsch.de is read worldwide. The magazine carries the ISSN 0340-7829 in print and 1437-4420 online.

The brand is conceived as a cross-media hunting offering: the print magazine provides in-depth journalism, the portal delivers daily news and service content, the newsletters "PIRSCH Aktuell" and "PIRSCH Jagdpraxis & Ausrüstung" keep readers informed between issues, and social media channels extend the community. Special issues pursue single topics at greater depth.

Editorially, PIRSCH covers the classic hunting spectrum — hunting practice, game management, hunting dogs, weapons and equipment, hunting law and policy — with a particular strength in southern German hunting culture, reflecting its Bavarian origins. The magazine's tone is professional and practice-oriented, addressing active hunters who expect reliable information for their hunting grounds.

History

The first issue of PIRSCH appeared in 1948, two years after the founding of the Bayerischer Landwirtschaftsverlag (BLV) by the Bayerischer Bauernverband (Bavarian Farmers' Association). In its first two decades, the paper's direction was set by chief editor Hermann Sandmann. From 1970 to 1987, Walter Helemann held the position of chief editor.

A significant milestone came in 1973, when the magazine "Der Deutsche Jäger" was incorporated into PIRSCH. Der Deutsche Jäger, first issued in 1879, had been the official organ of the Palatinate-Bavarian hunting protection associations — and its absorption gave PIRSCH a lineage stretching back into the nineteenth century and consolidated its position in southern German hunting journalism.

Michael Lewicki served as editor-in-chief until his death in 1998. He was succeeded by Jost Doerenkamp, who held the position from 1998 to 2011. In 2011, Sascha Numßen took over the editorship, with Doerenkamp moving into the publisher role. Since September 2020, Martin Weber has been editor-in-chief of PIRSCH.

The publisher's own history mirrors the consolidation of German agricultural publishing. In 1995, the BLV acquired the DLV–Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag Berlin GmbH, the privatised successor of the East German state agricultural publisher, from the Passauer Neue Presse. In 2001, the BLV Verlagsgesellschaft of Munich and the Landbuch Verlagsgesellschaft of Hanover pooled their magazine activities and founded today's Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH. The dlv's shareholders are the BLV Verlagsgesellschaft mbH of Munich with 75 percent and the LV Beteiligungs GmbH of Oldenburg with 25 percent; the BLV in turn is owned by the Bayerischer Bauernverband (46 percent), the Genossenschaftsverband Bayern (11 percent) and the Zeitungsverlag Oberbayern — publisher of the Münchner Merkur — (20 percent), with 23 percent held as treasury shares.

Content and Programming

The print magazine's content spans hunting practice, game biology, hunting dogs, weapons and equipment, hunting law and the culture of hunting. Regional reporting reflects the magazine's southern German heartland while covering national developments in hunting policy. Equipment tests and practical features give readers guidance for the hunting ground, and the magazine's photography presents wildlife, dogs and landscapes in high quality.

The digital brand extends this journalism across platforms. The pirsch.de portal publishes hunting news, background articles and service content on a rolling basis, generating around 3 million page impressions per month (IVW, August 2025). The newsletters "PIRSCH Aktuell" and "PIRSCH Jagdpraxis & Ausrüstung" deliver curated content to subscribers' inboxes, while social media channels provide community interaction and rapid news distribution.

Special issues allow the brand to treat major topics — from driven-hunt practice to optics buying guides — at a depth the biweekly rhythm does not always permit. The combination of print authority and digital speed positions PIRSCH as a full-service hunting medium for readers who follow hunting media across channels.

Coverage and Audience

The printed PIRSCH reaches a distributed circulation of 23,714 copies (IVW Q1/2026), concentrated in southern and western Germany with additional distribution in Switzerland and Austria — the regions where driven-hunt traditions and the magazine's historical roots are strongest. The readership consists of active hunters, game managers and hunting-interested readers, predominantly male and middle-aged, with a strong attachment to hunting tradition.

The digital audience is broader and more geographically dispersed: pirsch.de is read worldwide according to the publisher, serving German-speaking hunters abroad as well as younger readers who follow hunting news online. The portal's 3 million monthly page impressions make it one of the most-visited German-language hunting websites.

For advertisers in the hunting, weapons, optics, automotive and outdoor sectors, the PIRSCH brand offers both the trusted print environment and the reach of the digital portal — a combination that covers the full spectrum of the hunting-interested public.

Ownership

PIRSCH is a brand of the dlv Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag GmbH, headquartered in Munich with an additional base in Hanover. The dlv is one of Germany's leading publishers of agricultural, forestry and hunting media, with a portfolio that includes the Bayerisches Landwirtschaftliches Wochenblatt, Unsere Jagd, the Niedersächsischer Jäger, AFZ-Der Wald and numerous other specialist titles.

The dlv's portfolio extends far beyond hunting: its titles include the Bayerisches Landwirtschaftliches Wochenblatt, the Bauernzeitung, Agrarheute, AFZ-Der Wald, Forst & Technik, the Niedersächsischer Jäger and Unsere Jagd, making it one of the most comprehensive agricultural and rural-interest publishers in the German-speaking world. Within this portfolio, PIRSCH is the flagship hunting brand, benefiting from shared corporate infrastructure while maintaining its distinct editorial identity.

The brand's development from a traditional print magazine into a cross-media hunting brand reflects the dlv's broader digital strategy. Where the magazine once stood alone, it now anchors an ecosystem of print, web, newsletter, social and special-issue products, each serving different moments in the hunter's media day — the biweekly deep read, the daily news check, the inbox briefing and the social feed.

Digital Presence

The brand's digital home is pirsch.de, the official portal carrying news, features, service content and the magazine's digital archive. The newsletters "PIRSCH Aktuell" and "PIRSCH Jagdpraxis & Ausrüstung" are named on the brand's official pages as central digital products. PIRSCH maintains social media presences for community engagement and news distribution.

Digital editions of the print magazine are available for screen reading. The brand's cross-media strategy — print magazine, portal, newsletters, social media, special issues — reflects the dlv's approach to serving specialist audiences across all channels, ensuring that PIRSCH reaches hunters whether they prefer the printed biweekly, the daily website or the inbox newsletter. With its 1948 founding, PIRSCH is among the longest-running hunting titles in Europe, and its evolution into a hunting media brand shows how a traditional specialist magazine can renew itself without abandoning its print heritage.

The website field in this profile reflects the brand's official online home as listed in its Wikipedia entry. As the hunting media brand of one of Germany's largest rural publishers, PIRSCH combines nearly eight decades of editorial tradition with a modern multi-platform presence.