History
Mohn Media traces its origins back to the founding of the C. Bertelsmann publishing house in 1835 in Gütersloh. Over time, the company evolved from its original printing and publishing activities.
1835: The Founding
In 1835, Carl Bertelsmann lays the foundation in Gütersloh – initially as a publishing house, supported by a lithographic printing shop that had already been established in 1824. After the death of Heinrich Bertelsmann in 1887, the Mohn family assumes responsibility. Through three further generations – Johannes Mohn (from 1887) and Heinrich Mohn (from 1921) – the company remains firmly in family hands.
1933–1945: Years of War and New Beginnings
During the Nazi era, the publishing program changed fundamentally; Bertelsmann became the largest supplier of books to the Wehrmacht. After the beginning of the Second World War, the publishing house – as the Wehrmacht’s largest book supplier – made most of its profits from the sale of special field‑post editions. In the course of legal proceedings for the illegal procurement of paper supplies and as part of the mobilization of the entire German economy, the C. Bertelsmann publishing house was closed in 1944. In 1944 the company was shut down, in 1945 it was partially destroyed by bombing raids – and rebuilt in the same year. In 1947, Reinhard Mohn took the helm as the fifth generation of the family. From 1999 onward, an independent Historical Commission under the direction of historian Saul Friedländer researched the history of the Bertelsmann company during the National Socialist era. The final report, “Bertelsmann in the Third Reich,” was published in 2002 by C. Bertelsmann Verlag.
1950–1966: Growth and New Beginnings
With the founding of the Bertelsmann Lesering in 1950, a golden era begins. Demand exceeds supply, and the business develops from a pure corporate printer into a service provider for European publishers. In 1966 it is renamed Mohndruck Reinhard Mohn OHG – a signal of the company’s increased sense of identity.
1971–1993: Technologization and Efficiency
Mohn consistently invests in new technology: from the 32-page rotary press (1971) to Europe’s largest book production line (1981) and the commissioning of its own combined heat and power plant in 1993 – Mohn Media was an early adopter of ecological responsibility and industrial scaling.
1999: Mohn Media is founded
In the course of the founding of Arvato AG, the company is renamed Mohn Media. With the integration of new subsidiaries and the addition of further Bertelsmann publishers to the group, Mohn Media grows into a fully integrated media service provider.
2000–2015: Expansion and consolidation
The 2000s are marked by further capacity expansions – new high-performance rotary presses, Vogel Druck as a wholly owned subsidiary, and steadily increasing printing output of up to 5.2 million A4 pages per hour. In 2015, the Bertelsmann Printing Group is founded; since then, Mohn Media has been part of Europe’s largest printing group.
From 2019: Realignment and Present Day
Formerly known as Bertelsmann Printing Group and now operating as Bertelsmann Marketing Services, the company undergoes a structural reorganization in 2019 with the aim of data-driven, integrated collaboration. In 2020, Mohn Media puts a highly automated sheet-fed printing press into operation. Shortly thereafter, the coronavirus pandemic confronts the company with new challenges, which it faces—as it always has throughout its history.