About Reisemobil Caravan

Reisemobil Caravan

Reisemobil Caravan is a German monthly special-interest magazine for mobile leisure, published by the DoldeMedien Verlag in Stuttgart. It was formed from the merger of Reisemobil International (published since 1989) and Camping, Cars & Caravans under the new title Reisemobil Caravan. It informs motorhome travellers every month about new vehicle models, with test and driving reports on motorhomes, accessory tests and travel reportage. Founded by the Stuttgart publisher Gerhard Dolde with founding editor-in-chief Tim Cole and advertising manager Hansjörg Schwab as the first motorhome magazine to appear in four-colour print, it has served the German-speaking motorhome community for more than three and a half decades. The editor-in-chief is Gerrit Reichel; the deputy editor-in-chief Claus-Georg Petri has been with the magazine since 1995. Its website is reisemobil-international.de.

Overview

Reisemobil International appears monthly and covers the motorhome world from the independent publisher's perspective: new-model presentations, test and driving reports, accessory tests, travel features and the practical service journalism — buying advice, technology, touring tips — that the motorhome traveller needs. The magazine's tone is that of the knowledgeable fellow traveller: expert, practical and enthusiastic about the mobile life.

As the title of the Stuttgart-based DoldeMedien Verlag — a publishing house devoted since 1989 to mobile leisure — the magazine sits alongside the sister title Camping, Cars & Caravans (founded 1994 for caravan enthusiasts), the specialist magazine CampingImpulse for camping entrepreneurs, and the celebrated Bordatlas guides. The publishing house's focus gives the magazine a depth in its niche that generalist publishers struggle to match.

History

Reisemobil International was founded in 1989 by Gerhard Dolde, his friend Tim Cole as founding editor-in-chief and Hansjörg Schwab as advertising manager — the first motorhome magazine to be printed in four colours, a statement of ambition for a young segment. Cole left the magazine in 1993 to devote himself to digitalisation and the internet; the title continued under DoldeMedien's direction, growing with the German motorhome boom.

In 1994 the same publishing house founded Camping, Cars & Caravans for caravan lovers, creating a two-title portfolio covering motorhomes and caravans. In 1996 Reisemobil International published the first Bordatlas overnight-spot guide as a special edition — listing more than 6,000 overnight spots in Germany and Europe, also available as a mobile web app — which became one of the publishing house's signature products. The annual Reisemobil-Kaufberater special, with type tests for beginners and model overviews, guides the purchase decision.

The Bordatlas story illustrates the publishing house's product philosophy: identify the traveller's practical need — in this case, the authorised overnight spot, the legal and logistical foundation of the motorhome tour — and serve it with the thoroughness of a reference work. The guides' evolution from print special to book series to mobile web app tracks the digitalisation of touring itself: today's motorhomer navigates by app, but the curated, verified spot data remains the editorial value no algorithm provides. The "Stellplatzführer, Erlebnis mit dem Wohnmobil" book series — brewery sites, bathing lakes, romantic cities — extends the concept into themed touring, coordinated since 2019 by deputy editor-in-chief Claus-Georg Petri.

In 2009 the Forum Media Group of Merching near Augsburg took over the two magazines, before the titles returned to the DoldeMedien orbit. In 2014 the bimonthly Camper Vans joined the portfolio for camping buses and panel vans. The annual reader survey conducted jointly by the two magazines, honouring the best vehicle and accessory models with the "König Kunde Award", is an industry fixture.

Content

New-vehicle coverage is the core: presentations of new motorhome models, test and driving reports assessing layout, build quality, driving dynamics and value, and the market overviews that map the model year. Accessory tests cover everything the motorhomer adds to the vehicle — from awnings to satellite systems — with the practical verdicts of experienced tourers.

Travel reportage takes readers across Europe and beyond: touring routes, destination features and the overnight-spot guidance for which the publishing house is famous. The Bordatlas guides — the book series coordinated as a project by deputy editor-in-chief Claus-Georg Petri since 2019, with volumes on brewery sites, bathing lakes, romantic cities and more — extend the magazine's touring expertise into the bookshop.

Service journalism covers buying advice, technology, maintenance and the legal and practical questions of motorhome life. The "König Kunde Award", voted by the readers of both magazines for the best vehicle and accessory models, is covered as industry news and coveted by manufacturers.

The award's name — "King Customer" — captures the publishing house's editorial philosophy: the reader's verdict outranks the manufacturer's claim. The joint reader survey of Reisemobil International and Camping, Cars & Caravans, honouring the best vehicle and accessory models across motorhomes and caravans, gives the industry its most democratic honour — voted not by juries but by the people who actually tour with the products. For manufacturers, the award is a coveted endorsement; for readers, it is the collective wisdom of the community distilled into a buying guide.

Coverage & Audience

Reisemobil International is sold throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland at newsstands and by subscription, appearing monthly, with sold circulation reported at 26,204 copies in the fourth quarter of 2025, and reisemobil-international.de serves the brand online. The readership is the motorhome community: owners, buyers and touring enthusiasts who value the independent publisher's expertise and the practical, traveller-oriented journalism.

The Bordatlas guides extend the brand's reach into the book trade, and the magazine's long-standing presence — more than 35 years — gives it an institutional memory of the motorhome's evolution that few titles can match. For the German-speaking motorhome traveller, Reisemobil International is the independent voice of the mobile life.

Ownership

Reisemobil International is published by the DoldeMedien Verlag GmbH of Stuttgart, the independent publishing house founded by Gerhard Dolde and devoted since 1989 to mobile leisure. The company's portfolio — Reisemobil International, Camping, Cars & Caravans, CampingImpulse, Camper Vans, the Bordatlas guides and the "Stellplatzführer, Erlebnis mit dem Wohnmobil" book series — makes it one of Germany's leading specialist publishers for camping and caravanning.

The editor-in-chief is Gerrit Reichel; Claus-Georg Petri has served as deputy editor-in-chief since 1995, combining news writing and background research with project leadership of the popular Stellplatzführer book series since 2019 — and tours privately with his family by motorhome, summer and winter. The publishing house's independence and its exclusive focus on mobile leisure define the magazine's editorial character.

Digital Presence

The magazine's website, reisemobil-international.de, carries news, test content, travel features and subscription services, extending the monthly magazine's rhythm into digital currency. The Bordatlas guides' web-app version brings the overnight-spot database to the smartphone — the touring tool for the digital age.

Social media channels distribute touring photography, new-model news and community content to the motorhome audience. The monthly print magazine remains the home of the definitive test and the long tour narrative; the digital platforms and the Bordatlas apps provide the searchable, on-the-road utility. For the motorhome traveller, Reisemobil International's combination of 35 years of expertise and digital touring tools covers the journey from driveway to destination.

The Bordatlas guides are the publishing house's signature product: the overnight-spot references — thousands of spots across Germany and Europe — evolved from the 1996 print special to the book series to the mobile web app, tracking the digitalisation of touring itself. The "König Kunde Award" — the readers' vote for the best vehicle and accessory models — is the industry's democratic honour: decided not by juries but by the touring community, coveted by the manufacturers, trusted by the readers. The DoldeMedien independence — the Stuttgart specialist publisher, part of the Forum Media Group since 2009 — shapes the editorial character: the practitioner's perspective, the freedom from the corporate portfolio constraints. The Gerhard Dolde founding story — the 1989 launch with Tim Cole and Hansjörg Schwab, the four-colour print, the early growth — is the specialist-publisher legend: the title built by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. The annual Kaufberater special guides the purchase: the type tests for beginners, the model overviews — the buying decision's reference. In the German motorhome press, Reisemobil International is the independent voice: the Stuttgart magazine that has served the touring community since 1989 with the specialist's depth and the enthusiast's passion.