About Staßfurter Volksstimme

Staßfurter Volksstimme

The Staßfurter Volksstimme is the Staßfurt local edition of the Volksstimme, the regional daily newspaper serving northern Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Published by the Magdeburger Verlags- und Druckhaus GmbH, which is part of the Bauer Media Group, it appears daily except Sundays with local pages dedicated to Staßfurt and the surrounding Salzlandkreis, combined with the Volksstimme's comprehensive regional, national and international coverage. The Volksstimme has a circulation of around 161,000 copies, and its editor-in-chief is Marc Rath. Its content appears on the volksstimme.de portal.

Overview

The Staßfurter Volksstimme is one of the local editions through which the Volksstimme covers northern Saxony-Anhalt, alongside editions for Magdeburg, the Altmark, the Börde district and the Harz region. The Volksstimme is the leading daily newspaper of northern Saxony-Anhalt, published in Magdeburg, with a circulation of around 161,000 copies. The paper appears daily except Sundays in print and is available as an e-paper and through the volksstimme.de portal.

Staßfurt is a town in the Salzlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, with a history shaped by salt mining: the world's first potash mine was sunk in Staßfurt in 1861, and the town's name is known to chemists worldwide through the Staßfurt salt deposits. The Staßfurter Volksstimme's circulation area covers Staßfurt and the surrounding communities of the Salzlandkreis. The paper's readership consists mainly of subscribers in the region who rely on it for local politics, community life and the regional news of Saxony-Anhalt.

History

The Volksstimme's history reaches back to the post-war founding of the East German press, and the paper was re-established as an independent regional daily after German reunification in 1990. The paper is published by the Magdeburger Verlags- und Druckhaus GmbH, and since the Bauer Media Group's acquisition it has been part of one of Europe's major media houses; since January 2020 the Bauer Media Group has also owned the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, the second major daily of Saxony-Anhalt. The Volksstimme's circulation was around 343,000 copies in 1992, reflecting its position as the dominant daily of the northern part of the state.

The Staßfurter Volksstimme developed as the Volksstimme's local edition for Staßfurt and the Salzlandkreis, chronicling the region's transformation after reunification: the restructuring of the chemical and mining industries, the development of new commercial areas, and the civic rebuilding of the towns. The paper's editors-in-chief have included Alois Kösters, who led the paper from 2011 to 2023, and Marc Rath, who has held the position since 2023. The paper has navigated the digital transformation with the e-paper and the development of the volksstimme.de portal.

Coverage and Content

The Staßfurter Volksstimme's local pages cover Staßfurt and the surrounding communities of the Salzlandkreis. Municipal politics is a central beat, with reporting on the Staßfurt town council, the district council of the Salzlandkreis, and the planning issues of a region managing structural change. The paper follows the local economy, from the chemical industry's legacy and the remaining mining-related businesses to the new commercial and logistics developments along the region's transport corridors.

The paper gives extensive space to club and association life, with the region's sports clubs, cultural associations and volunteer fire brigades forming the backbone of community reporting. The Salzlandkreis's towns, from Staßfurt's historic centre to the surrounding villages, each contribute their own civic rhythms to the weekly news cycle. The paper's local pages serve as the bulletin board of the district's public life, from council decisions to club anniversaries and school events. The Staßfurt salt-mining heritage, commemorated in the town's museums and historic sites, provides distinctive material for the paper's local history coverage. The world's first potash mine, sunk in Staßfurt in 1861, gave the town a place in industrial history that the paper marks in anniversary coverage and heritage reporting. The salt industry's legacy, from the historic mine buildings to the town's chemical tradition, remains a defining theme of the edition's identity reporting. School topics and family life receive regular attention. The Volksstimme's central newsroom in Magdeburg supplies the overregional sections: Saxony-Anhalt state politics, national news from Berlin, international reporting, business, culture and sports.

Organization and Ownership

The Staßfurter Volksstimme is published by the Magdeburger Verlags- und Druckhaus GmbH, based in Magdeburg, which is part of the Bauer Media Group. The Bauer Media Group's ownership, extended in January 2020 to include the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, makes the group the dominant newspaper publisher in Saxony-Anhalt. The paper's editor-in-chief is Marc Rath, who has led the Volksstimme since 2023, following Alois Kösters and a line of editors reaching back to the paper's post-war founding.

The Volksstimme's local editions share the central newsroom in Magdeburg, with local editorial teams producing the district pages for each edition. The Staßfurt edition maintains its own local editorial presence, serving as the point of contact for readers, clubs, institutions and advertisers in the coverage area. Production is handled at the group's printing centre in Barleben near the A2 motorway, and distribution, subscription management and advertising sales are managed through the group's own organisations.

Readership and Market Position

The Staßfurter Volksstimme operates within the Volksstimme's dominant position as the leading daily of northern Saxony-Anhalt, with a circulation of around 161,000 copies. In the Salzlandkreis the paper competes with the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, now under the same Bauer ownership, creating a unique market structure in which the state's two major dailies belong to one group. The Staßfurter Volksstimme's market position rests on the Volksstimme's comprehensive regional journalism and its dedicated Staßfurt pages.

Like all German regional dailies, the Volksstimme has experienced significant circulation decline since the early 1990s, with circulation falling from around 343,000 copies in 1992, a trend addressed through e-paper subscriptions and the volksstimme.de portal. The Bauer Media Group's ownership of both the Volksstimme and the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung has concentrated Saxony-Anhalt's daily press, and the Staßfurt edition's market position rests on the depth of its local pages within this consolidated landscape. The paper's readership is rooted in the towns and villages of northern Saxony-Anhalt, with strong local identity and traditionally high subscriber loyalty. The Staßfurt edition's role as the reference medium for the town's civic life gives it enduring value for readers and local advertisers.

Digital Presence

The Staßfurter Volksstimme's digital home is the volksstimme.de portal, the Volksstimme's online platform presenting continuously updated news from Saxony-Anhalt. Readers can access the complete printed edition as an e-paper, and the portal's online newsroom provides regional news throughout the day. The paper reaches readers through social media channels and newsletters, and the portal's local pages give the Staßfurt content a dedicated digital presence.

The digital offering follows a subscription model, with the e-paper available as part of print subscriptions or as a standalone digital subscription. The portal's local pages and newsletters keep Staßfurt readers connected to the Salzlandkreis's news, complementing the daily print rhythm with digital updates. The combination of print, e-paper and portal serves the edition's readers across all platforms, from Staßfurt's historic centre to the Salzlandkreis's villages. The integration of the Staßfurter Volksstimme into the large volksstimme.de platform gives the Staßfurt edition a modern digital infrastructure and extends its reach beyond the print circulation area. The combination of the print daily, the e-paper, the continuously updated portal and social media gives the Staßfurter Volksstimme a comprehensive presence in the Salzlandkreis's media landscape.