Abstract
The shift away from case-studies on individual newspapers towards the study of the geography and space of news is one of the most profound changes in the recent history in the historiography of the newspaper. The new medium that came about at the beginning of the seventeenth century succeeded in parts because it could rely on an efficient international network which transported news. First, this article focusses on the influence as well as the importance of the Netherlandish press for publishers in Germany. It will uncover the exact origin and measure the amount and frequency of Netherlandish news in the German press. This will be done on the basis of a bibliographical analysis of all surviving German periodicals printed between 1609 and 1650. Netherlandish reports formed part of the backbone of international coverage in German newspapers. Secondly it traces the intellectual and economic influence of Netherlandish publishers. Many of the early publishers failed to establish a business model that would turn their newspaper into a lucrative enterprise. Some of those who managed to keep their periodicals running owned part of their success to the adaptation and appropriation of business models developed in the Northern and Southern Netherlands.
Highlights
The shift away from case-studies on individual newspapers towards the study of the geography and space of news is one of the most profound changes in the recent historiography of the newspaper
What was the Postzeitung’s German reader to make of this? Book advertisements such as this were common in the Dutch press from the 1620s onwards. They were very rare in German newspapers before the 1640s, and when they occurred at all, they usually referred to a book printed or published by the printer of the respective newspaper
That a Berliner Postzeitung] 50. (Berlin) newspaper, published by the Brandenburg postmaster Christoph Frischmann in connection with the printer Georg Runge, advertised a Dutch edition was unheard of, and the advertisement was all the more strange because it translated the title of the book into German, while claiming that the book in question had been translated from Spanish into Dutch by Jan Huygen van Linschoten
Summary
News from outside the Holy Roman Empire was of great importance to German newspapers in the seventeenth century. Thomas Schröder, in his study of the annual runs of the first two periodicals, has shown that in 1609, 31 percent of all news in the Wolfenbütteler Aviso dealt with matters from outside the Holy Roman Empire.2 This proportion was even higher in the Straßburger Relation where 41 percent of all reports came from outside Germany. With the exception of Italy, which provided a similar number, no other region of early modern Europe provided as many reports as the Northern and Southern Netherlands combined. This is not at all what one might expect. That any reader would have probably expected at least one report per issue to come from this region
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
