About Solinger Tageblatt

Solinger Tageblatt

The Solinger Tageblatt is a regional daily newspaper serving Solingen in the Bergisches Land, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Published by the B. Boll publishing house, which has been owned by the Boll family since 1867, it first appeared on 1 July 1809 and is the oldest Solingen daily newspaper and one of the oldest newspapers in Germany. The paper appears Monday to Saturday with a sold circulation of around 13,300 copies, the largest of any newspaper published in Solingen. Its local pages are produced by its own Solingen newsroom, while the overregional sections have come from the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland since 2023. The paper's editor-in-chief is Kerstin Neuser, and its managing directors are Michael and Bernhard Boll.

Overview

The Solinger Tageblatt is the defining newspaper of the "blade city" of Solingen, the world-famous centre of the cutlery industry in the Bergisches Land. The paper appears six days a week in the Rhenish format, in print and as an e-paper, and its online portal solinger-tageblatt.de reaches several hundred thousand monthly visits. Its circulation area covers Solingen and its districts, including the historic old towns of Ohligs, Wald, Gräfrath and Höhscheid. With a sold circulation of around 13,300 copies and a subscription share of more than 84 percent, it commands the largest circulation of any newspaper appearing in Solingen.

The paper is published by the B. Boll, Verlag des Solinger Tageblattes GmbH & Co. KG, a family company that has remained independent for more than 150 years. The Boll family is the sole owner, represented by the publishers Bernhard and Michael Boll and their sister Gisela Bandekow. The B. Boll media group has grown into a regional media house that also publishes the Remscheider General-Anzeiger, the free papers Das Solinger and Bergischer Anzeiger, the magazine Engelbert, and holds a majority stake in the local radio station Radio RSG. The paper was long one of Germany's last afternoon newspapers before switching to morning delivery.

History

The Solinger Tageblatt's history begins on 1 July 1809, when the "Verkündiger", a weekly paper for entertainment and instruction, appeared with a first edition of 45 copies. Its publisher and editor was the book printer Carl Siebel. In 1822 the paper was renamed the Solinger Wochenblatt, and from 1834 it appeared as the Solinger Kreis-Intelligenzblatt, a name it kept until 1912. Carl Siebel transferred the business to his son-in-law N. D. Hoffmann in 1855, and from him it passed to B. Boll in 1867, whose family owns it to this day. On 1 October 1888 the paper became a daily newspaper, and on 1 October 1912 it received its current name, the Solinger Tageblatt.

At the end of the Second World War the Solinger Tageblatt, like all German newspapers, had to cease publication, but from December 1949 it was allowed to appear again. As its publishing and printing building had been destroyed in the war, the publisher entered an editorial community with the General-Anzeiger der Stadt Wuppertal and the Remscheider General-Anzeiger, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bergischer Zeitungen. Since then the Solingen newsroom has not been a full editorial office but produces only the local section, while the mantle was obtained from the Westdeutsche Zeitung's main newsroom in Wuppertal.

In 2007 the Solinger Tageblatt introduced a new layout together with the Westdeutsche Zeitung and the Remscheider General-Anzeiger, and since 1 January 2009 all pages have been printed in full colour. At the end of 2011 the Solinger Tageblatt's publishing house acquired all title and publishing rights of the Remscheider General-Anzeiger, with its head editions Wermelskirchener General-Anzeiger, Hückeswagener Stadtanzeiger and Radevormwalder Zeitung, from the J. F. Ziegler KG. Since 2023 the paper has cooperated closely with the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, which supplies the overregional content for the paper and the online portal, and in June 2025 Kerstin Neuser took over the joint editor-in-chief position of the Solinger Tageblatt and the RGA with two deputies.

Coverage and Content

The Solinger Tageblatt's local pages cover Solingen and its districts with dedicated reporting on the blade city. Municipal politics is a central beat, with coverage of the Solingen town council, the district politics of the region, and the planning issues of a major Bergisch city. Economic reporting follows the fortunes of the cutlery and blade industry, the manufacturing companies of the Bergisches Land, and the structural transformation of a traditional industrial city. The paper covers the cultural life of Solingen, from the historic Gräfrath old town and the Müngsten Bridge, Germany's highest railway bridge, to the museums and festivals of the blade city.

Club and association life receives extensive coverage, as do local sports and school topics. The overregional sections come from the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland: national and international news, business, culture and sports. The paper's free sister publications, Das Solinger and the Bergischer Anzeiger, extend the advertising reach to all households, while the Engelbert magazine provides a glossy complement. Service elements such as event calendars, obituaries, family announcements and consumer advice complete the daily offering. The paper describes itself as guaranteeing fair, objective coverage and publishing stimulating stories to help readers form their own opinions.

Organization and Ownership

The Solinger Tageblatt is published by the B. Boll, Verlag des Solinger Tageblattes GmbH & Co. KG, a family company that has been fully autonomous and owned solely by the Boll family since 1867. The family is represented by the publishers Bernhard Boll and Michael Boll, who also serve as managing directors, and their sister Gisela Bandekow. The paper's editor-in-chief is Kerstin Neuser, who since June 2025 has led the joint editorial office of the Solinger Tageblatt and the Remscheider General-Anzeiger with two deputies.

The B. Boll media group has diversified far beyond the daily newspaper. At the end of 2011 it acquired the Remscheider General-Anzeiger with its head editions, and it holds the majority of the Remscheider Medienhaus GmbH & Co. KG and of Radio RSG, the local radio station. The group publishes the free advertising papers Das Solinger and Bergischer Anzeiger, the magazine Engelbert, and owns the Haaner Treff, an advertising paper and online portal in the neighbouring town of Haan. Since 2006 the group has co-operated the regional online classifieds portal kalaydo.de with other newspaper publishers. Distribution, subscription management and advertising sales are handled through the group's own organisations.

Readership and Market Position

The Solinger Tageblatt holds the largest circulation of any newspaper appearing in Solingen, with a sold circulation of around 13,300 copies, more than 84 percent of which are subscriptions. Its readership is rooted in the blade city, with strong local identity shaped by six centuries of blade-making tradition. The paper competes with the Solinger Morgenpost, the Rheinische Post's local edition, making Solingen one of the few remaining two-daily cities in the German regional press. This competition keeps local journalism in the blade city unusually vibrant.

Like most German dailies, the Solinger Tageblatt has experienced significant circulation decline, with sold circulation falling by more than half since 1998, a trend addressed through e-paper subscriptions and the solinger-tageblatt.de portal, which records several hundred thousand monthly visits. The paper's market position rests on its 215-year history as the blade city's own newspaper and the independence of the Boll family company. Its more than 150 years of uninterrupted family ownership give it exceptional credibility in Solingen, and its reader dialogue and fair, objective coverage are central to its editorial identity.

Digital Presence

The Solinger Tageblatt's digital home is solinger-tageblatt.de, the paper's online portal presenting current news from Solingen, Germany and the world. Readers can access the complete printed edition as an e-paper, and the portal's online newsroom provides continuously updated regional news. The portal attracts several hundred thousand monthly visits, with organic search as its leading traffic channel. The paper reaches readers through social media channels, and its online presence is complemented by the Haaner Treff online portal and the group's digital classifieds activities.

The digital offering follows a subscription model, with the e-paper available as part of print subscriptions or as a standalone digital subscription. Since 2023 the overregional digital content has been supplied by the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, giving the portal the same comprehensive coverage as the print edition. The combination of the print daily, the e-paper, the continuously updated portal and social media gives the Solinger Tageblatt a comprehensive presence in the blade city's media landscape, serving readers across Solingen and the Bergisches Land.