About Tankstelle

Tankstelle

tankstelle is a German monthly trade magazine for the petrol-station industry, published since 1954 and among the oldest specialist titles serving the country's filling-station operators. Appearing in the Kirchheim-Verlag, it carries the industry's news alongside regular treatments of current legal questions, serving the operators, leaseholders, and managers of Germany's filling stations. The magazine's website at tankstelle-magazin.de extends the monthly rhythm with current articles, and the brand awards the annual "Tankstelle des Jahres" industry prize, honoring outstanding stations in categories such as bistro, innovation and environment, and a special "Best of History" award for stations with exceptional historical continuity.

Overview

tankstelle addresses the full breadth of the filling-station business: fuels and alternative energy, car wash and car care, shop and convenience retailing, digitalization, management, and the associations that organize the trade, in a market where the station has long evolved from a fuel pump into a retail and service destination. A typical issue is structured around departments that mirror the station operator's working day: a cover story on a major industry theme, such as the November 2026 report on the InterTabac trade fair and the tobacco industry in transition, an industry forum, car-wash coverage including digital signage at washing facilities, digitalization topics such as wash integration and networked ERP systems, a management section covering the path from agency contracts to leasing, association news, shop and convenience features on new products and coffee concepts, and an interview format, "5 Fragen an," with industry personalities such as Domino's Pizza Germany's chief development officer Hannah Schmidt.

A distinctive feature is the magazine's regular treatment of legal questions, giving operators guidance on the regulatory issues of running a station, from contracts to insurance, in a dedicated management series, a service that reflects how legally complex the modern filling-station business has become. The subscriber club section adds expert advice, such as guidance on parcel shops at filling stations, a management series on insurance, practical tips, and a monitor column on transformation topics. The magazine appears monthly in print, with the website carrying selected articles, issue previews, and the surveys through which readers help shape the magazine's future.

History

tankstelle has appeared since 1954, formerly with the subtitle "Das Magazin für den Stationär," making it one of the oldest trade publications for the German filling-station industry. It has accompanied the sector through its entire postwar transformation: from the simple fuel pumps of the economic-miracle years through the rise of the station shop, the car wash as a profit center, the liberalization of shop opening hours, and the current transformation toward alternative fuels, electric charging, and the station as a 24/7 service location.

The magazine is published in the Kirchheim-Verlag of Mainz, a publishing house with a long tradition in trade and specialist media, and it has kept its monthly rhythm through more than seven decades of industry change. Over the decades the title has kept its monthly rhythm and its focus on the operator's perspective, combining industry news with the legal guidance that has become its hallmark. The "Tankstelle des Jahres" award, presented in categories that reflect the modern station's diversity, has become a fixture of the industry calendar, honoring stations that exemplify excellence in their bistro concepts, their environmental innovation, or their historical continuity.

Recent issues show a magazine fully engaged with the industry's transformation, documenting both its pioneers and its traditions. The 2026 awards honored the Roth station in Giessen, opened in 2025, as the first filling station in Germany to offer Super E20 at the price mast, with rainwater recovery, a bee-friendly outdoor area, a green roof, and a car wash recycling more than 90 percent of its water, winning the "Innovation and Environment" category. The "Best of History" special prize went to the Tankshop Albers in Cloppenburg, a station continuously developed since 1951 through three generations of owners into a modern 24/7 service location with some 1,200 customers daily, 18 employees, and around five million liters of annual fuel sales. The "Bistro" category honored the Orlen station in Ebendorf, whose homemade specialties and lived customer proximity made it a beloved meeting point.

Coverage and Content

tankstelle's editorial program follows the station operator's business across its revenue pillars. Fuel coverage tracks conventional fuels and the transformation to alternatives: E20, HVO100, LPG, AdBlue, and electric charging, with the magazine reporting on pioneering stations and pilot projects. Car wash and car care coverage addresses washing technology, digital signage at wash facilities, and the integration of washing into digital customer journeys. Shop and convenience coverage follows the retail side: new products, coffee concepts for mid-sized operators, functional and seasonal non-alcoholic beverages, and the impulse categories such as ready-to-drinks, which the magazine analyzes with market data on sales development in the filling-station channel.

Management coverage gives operators practical guidance: the series on the path from agency contracts to leasing, the insurance series, expert advice on parcel shops at stations, and tips on topics such as avoiding fog accidents, all written for the daily reality of running a station. The regular legal treatments address the current legal questions of the trade. Association news follows the organizations of the industry, including the bft's annual general meeting, and the industry forum carries voices from the sector. The "5 Fragen an" interviews bring in perspectives from adjacent industries, and the subscriber club section offers exclusive expert content.

The website tankstelle-magazin.de carries selected articles from the current issues, issue previews with the table of contents, award coverage, and reader surveys, extending the monthly print cycle with continuous digital updates and giving advertisers a current platform alongside the print edition.

Organization and Ownership

tankstelle is published in the Kirchheim-Verlag of Mainz, appearing monthly. The publisher's trade-media tradition and the magazine's continuous appearance since 1954 make it an established institution of the German filling-station industry. The editorial team produces the monthly magazine and the website content, with contributors such as Lisa Levy named in the award coverage, and the magazine's surveys invite readers to help shape its future development.

The magazine's industry prize, "Tankstelle des Jahres," is organized with partners from the sector, and the award ceremonies bring together station operators, suppliers, and association representatives, celebrating the stations that show what the modern filling station can be. Financial details of the magazine's operations, including circulation figures, are not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed, beyond the industry standing the magazine's seven-decade run attests to.

Digital Presence

tankstelle's digital home is tankstelle-magazin.de, where the magazine publishes selected articles from current issues, monthly issue previews with full tables of contents, and coverage of the "Tankstelle des Jahres" awards. The site carries reader surveys on the magazine's development, with prize draws for participants, and it presents the brand's service functions for subscribers and advertisers.

The website's articles show a continuously updated operation, with content from the September, October, and November 2026 issues published within days of appearance. The digital presence complements the monthly print edition, giving the industry's operators a current source of news, product information, and management guidance between issues. The award coverage, with its photo reports from the winning stations, from the historic Tankshop Albers to the pioneering Roth station, gives the brand a visual showcase of the industry's best practices and its transformation.