About Westfälische Nachrichten

Westfälische Nachrichten

The Westfälische Nachrichten (WN) is a German regional daily newspaper published in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, by Aschendorff Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Its first edition appeared on 3 August 1946 under a license from the British occupation authorities — printed in Oelde because Münster's printing presses had been destroyed in air raids — and its predecessor, the Münsterische Anzeiger (1852–1937), was expropriated without compensation by the Nazi regime. The WN is the highest-circulation daily of its region, and since early 2026 it has been part of the Rheinische Post Mediengruppe. Its editors-in-chief are Ulrich Windolph and Carsten Voß. Its website is wn.de.

Overview

The Westfälische Nachrichten is Münster's newspaper — the daily of the Westphalian capital, the city of the Peace of Westphalia, the university, and the Prinzipalmarkt. Published by Aschendorff Medien, the paper appears Monday through Saturday in Rheinisch format for Münster, the Münsterland, and the Tecklenburger Land, with 15 different local editions.

The paper's sold circulation is 97,510 copies (IVW, second quarter of 2026, Monday–Saturday, including the Münstersche Zeitung), with a subscription share of 82.2 percent — the bedrock of a loyal readership. Together with the partner publishers of the Zeitungsgruppe Münsterland (ZGM), the WN reaches 157,133 copies sold, making it the highest-circulation daily newspaper of the region. According to Media-Analyse 2014, more than half of the population over 14 (56.4 percent) reads the Westfälische Nachrichten or a ZGM title daily.

The paper's editor-in-chief was Jost Springensguth from 1990 to 2000; his successor Norbert Tiemann took over on 1 July 2000, having served as deputy editor since 1997. Tiemann was followed in March 2022 by Anne Eckrodt, herself previously deputy editor for several years. Since June 2025 Ulrich Windolph has been the paper's editor-in-chief.

History

The Münsterische Anzeiger and the Nazi expropriation

From 1852 to 1937 the Münsterische Anzeiger appeared in Münster — the predecessor of today's Westfälische Nachrichten. In 1937, in the Nazi era, it was expropriated without compensation by the NS rulers: one of the countless press expropriations through which the regime seized Catholic and bourgeois papers.

A 1946 rebirth under British license

After the Second World War, the British occupation authorities granted the Aschendorff Verlag a license to publish a new newspaper. The first license holders of the Westfälische Nachrichten were the former Reichstag deputy Franz Bornefeld-Ettmann, Gottfried Hasenkamp, and Friedrich Leopold Hüffer, co-owner of the Aschendorff publishing bookstore.

Because the printing presses had been destroyed in the air raids on Münster, the Westfälische Nachrichten were printed at the Holterdorf publishing house in Oelde — the first edition appeared on 3 August 1946. From 1949 production returned to the printing house in Münster.

The Rheinische Post Mediengruppe takeover (2026)

In March 2026 the Westfälische Nachrichten announced that it was being taken over by the Rheinische Post Mediengruppe. In April 2026 the Federal Cartel Office approved the planned acquisition — including the Westfalen-Blatt — because, in its assessment, the distribution areas of the publishers involved do not overlap. Since early 2026 the WN has thus been part of the Rheinische Post Mediengruppe, ending eight decades of Aschendorff independence for the paper's holding company.

In 1950 the Westfälische Nachrichten joined with surrounding Münsterland home publishers to form the "Zeitungsverlagsgesellschaft Nordwestdeutschland" (ZENO), today the "Zeitungsgruppe Münsterland" (ZGM) — the cooperative that carries the paper's regional editions across the Münsterland.

On 1 August 2014 it became known that the WN publisher Aschendorff also wanted to take over Münster's smaller local paper, the Münstersche Zeitung (MZ), as part of a restructuring merger. The Federal Cartel Office exceptionally approved the takeover because the rival paper's insolvency would likewise have led to a WN monopoly — a decision that drew criticism from observers who feared a narrowing of press diversity in Münster.

The archive: a million pages scanned

All pages ever published by the paper were scanned at the beginning of the 21st century — with more than a million pages, it was the largest scanning order ever awarded in Germany. Today the complete archive of 60 newspaper volumes is available digitally. The physical WN archive closed on 30 September 2020; since 2022 the archive has been included in the digital newspaper subscription.

Content and Programming

The WN's content is the Münsterland's daily life: Münster city politics, the university and its students, the surrounding districts with 15 local editions for the Münsterland and Tecklenburger Land. The paper offers a complete package of politics, business, culture, and sport from the region, supplemented by target-group offerings such as the children's page "Yango" and the monthly leisure and events magazine "WN live," which is included with all WN editions once a month (Fridays) and is also available free at around 400 distribution points.

More than 100 permanent editors report daily for the 15 local editions. Alongside the national desk at the Hansalinie media house in Münster and the Münster local desk on Soester Straße, the paper maintains local editorial offices in Ahlen, Greven, Gronau, Lengerich, Lüdinghausen, Steinfurt, Telgte, and Warendorf. The paper is printed at the Aschendorff printing center on the Hansalinie in Münster.

The paper launched its WN ePaper app and, in April 2016, the WN News apps for smartphones and tablets (iOS and Android) — the digital editions that carry the Münsterland's news to younger readers.

Coverage and Audience

The Westfälische Nachrichten serves Münster and the Münsterland — one of Germany's most Catholic, most conservative-leaning, and most locally rooted regions. Its readership is the classic regional-paper profile: loyal, subscription-based, and deeply attached to the paper as the chronicler of their city and districts.

The ZGM cooperative extends the WN's reach across the Münsterland's home publishers, giving the paper a regional density few German dailies can match. The group includes the Allgemeine Zeitung in Coesfeld (with its daughter editions Billerbecker Anzeiger and Gescherer Zeitung), the Grevener Zeitung, the Borkener Zeitung, the Dülmener Zeitung, the Emsdettener Volkszeitung, the Ibbenbürener Volkszeitung, the Münsterländische Volkszeitung Rheine, and the Münstersche Zeitung — with 19 different booking units for advertising customers including the partner publishers. The 2014 takeover of the Münstersche Zeitung made the WN the dominant voice in Münster's local journalism; in the city, the WN handles reporting for both newspaper titles, while the MZ's national section partly comes from the Ruhr Nachrichten in Dortmund.

Ownership

The Westfälische Nachrichten is published by Aschendorff Medien GmbH & Co. KG, the Münster media house that has owned the paper since its 1946 founding — the WN is its flagship. In March 2026 the paper's holding company, Westfälische Medien Holding, announced it would become part of the Rheinische Post Mediengruppe; the Federal Cartel Office approved the deal in April 2026. The local commercial radio station Antenne Münster is 75 percent owned by the two local papers WN and MZ — a reminder of the paper's deep roots in Münster's media landscape.

Digital Presence

The website wn.de carries the paper's Münsterland journalism online. The editorial team works in a newsdesk organization according to the "online first" principle: the news portal, offered since 2007, records more than one million individual users and an average of more than 16 million mobile and desktop page views per month. Articles, photo galleries, videos, and live tickers combine into a multimedia regional news offering. Since October 2012 all local editions have also been available digitally as the "WN ePaper," via browser and the WN ePaper app for iOS and Android; in April 2016 the paper added the WN News apps for smartphones and tablets. The site operates with digital subscriptions — which since 2022 include the complete scanned newspaper archive. The paper is active on social media with Münsterland-focused content, serving one of Germany's most locally rooted audiences in the digital space as well.