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A foreigner’s guide to understanding the German press in five minutes

Interested in deciphering the different political biases in the German press? Here’s The Local's quick guide on the Zeitungswelt (newspaper industry), and other media.

Published: 3 February 2022 17:13 CET

A newspaper stand in Berlin showing the German daily Bild. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

Germany’s media landscape has changed drastically over the last century; from being used as a propaganda tool by the Nazis, to being censored and state-controlled in the GDR (East Germany).

However, German media has come a long way: the Basic Law (Grundgesetz) outlines freedom of expression and freedom of the press as a fundamental right and according to the 2021 press freedom ranking by the NGO Reporters Without Borders, Germany comes in at 13th place, making it one of the freest countries for journalists to work.

While the advent of the digital age brought online journalism into the mainstream, the so-called ‘death of the newspaper’ seems to be not as severe in Germany compared to other Western nations, with many Germans (56 percent) choosing to read the printed press over online formats, and German newspapers pulling in 38 million readers.

However, many print online publications now have large online presence as well as a print product. Increasingly, newspapers in Germany are also turning to subscription-based models.

The majority of adults in Germany claim they trust the media – but what media do they consume? To help you understand and navigate the German press, we have broken down some of the Nachrichtenagenturen (news outlets) in Germany.

Print

There are over 330 daily newspapers in circulation in Germany, as well as 17 weeklies and 1600 mass-market magazines. Germany’s print market is the largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. Germany is also characterised by its regional press landscape – people from Berlin tend to read newspapers from Berlin, people from Frankfurt tend to read newspapers from Frankfurt, and so on. Even national newspapers have regional sections to make them more attractive to their readers.

A selection of German newspapers.

A selection of German newspapers. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Jens Kalaene

Conservative

Axel Springer SE, the largest publishing house in Germany, and Europe overall, publishes a number of newspapers since its founding in 1946. Politically conservative, its journalists support a free market economy, are pro-Europe and pro-Israel. But the brand has come under fire for neglecting journalistic and workplace ethics.

The wider Axel Springer publishers were targeted by a number of left-wing groups in the 1960s and 1970s, notably by the Red Army Faction.

Bild

Springer’s most widely read daily newspaper is the Boulevardzeitung (tabloid), Die BILD. It has an enormous reach of over 7.9 million readers, controlling the largest share of the overall market (23.6 percent) and dominating the tabloid market (79 percent), making it a key political player in Germany.

It is written clearly and known for its bright images and use of sensationalism and inflammatory language, particularly in its regular reporting of scandals, crimes and celebrities. Often compared to The Sun, Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid, readers mainly come from lower and middle income groups.

Die Welt

Die Welt (The World) is Springer’s other major newspaper. It is seen as the ‘serious’ alternative to Die BILD and offers an extensive business section. The language is still relatively easy to understand and, fitting with its parent company, is conservative leaning.

Liberal

Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ)

The Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) based in Munich is centre-left on the spectrum and the second most widely read paper in Germany after BILD. It is the flagship of a socially liberal and culturally interested middle class and advocates for a social market economy.

On Mondays the paper includes articles from the New York Times and on Fridays the SZ-Magazin showcases younger cultural journalism and ties in pop culture.

Die Tageszeitung (taz)

Berlin’s taz is a left-wing daily newspaper owned by a cooperative, something that is unique in the German media landscape. This allows the newspaper to continue to be independent.

It is specifically green-left and critical of the system, having been founded in 1878 as an alternative to mainstream newspapers. The newspaper is currently women-led, with two co-editors-in-chief and a deputy.

Die Zeit

First published in 1946, Die Zeit (The Times) is one of the oldest and most popular weekly newspapers and holds centre-left views. It is known for more longform content and in-depth analysis and an exemplar of Germany’s high-brow journalism.

Newspapers are still fairly popular in Germany. Photo: picture alliance / Marijan Murat/dpa | Marijan Murat

Der Spiegel

Der Spiegel (The Mirror) is a left-liberal leaning weekly political magazine based in Hamburg that focuses on investigative journalism, known for uncovering a number of political affairs and scandals.

It is not to be confused with Der Tagesspiegel (The Daily Mirror), a daily regional newspaper based in Berlin that is liberal and more centrist.

Neues Deutschland (nd)

The nd is a national daily newspaper with a readership focus on East Germany, being the main newspaper of the former SED party. It sees itself as a socialist newspaper and is the most left-leaning of Germany’s mainstream papers. The nd targets not only old eastern leftists but a general left audience and is backed by Die Linke (The Left Party).

Business

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)

Those with a special interest in business and economics tend to read the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), though the paper also features foreign policy and culture sections. Its political leaning is centre-right to conservative.

Der Handelsblatt

Based in Düsseldorf, the Handelsblatt is another daily newspaper with a business focus. The paper reports mainly on companies and financial markets, as well as politics and technology. Its political leanings are economically liberal.

Online

The most visited online news sources in 2019 were Spiegel online, t-online, Focus online, Bilde.de and Web.de – all of which are online versions of traditional newspapers.

Many people belonging to Germany’s English speaking population, of course, turn to The Local Germany.

Television is by far the most widely used and widespread media in Germany. The two main news channels, ARD and ZDF (Zweiten Deutschen Fernsehen) take a neutral stance on issues.

Like TV licensing fees in the UK, residents in Germany help fund these channels, as well as Deutschlandradio, through the so-called Rundfunkbeitrag (broadcasting contribution).

Each household in Germany has to pay €18 a month, with a few exceptions. This contribution accounts for the largest part of the €7.7 billion budget of the public broadcasters, the highest of any non-commercial media company in the world.

ARD’s foreign broadcasting service, Deutsche Welle (DW) is also independent of government influence, though it is financed by taxpayers’ money rather than by broadcasting fees.

EXPLAINED: How to pay Germany’s TV tax (or legally avoid it)

Member comments

Anonymous - 4 February 2022 at 10:35 CET

56% still read print! Why am I not surprised. I’ve lived here 7 years and I’m still trying to get used to living in the 70’s

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10 essential tips for avoiding rental scams in Germany

When it comes to settling in Germany, one of the most stressful and difficult tasks you’re likely to face is finding a place to live.

With the country in the grip of an ever-worsening housing shortage, there aren’t enough rental properties to meet the high demand – especially in big cities like Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt – and the flats that are available can often stretch even the most healthy of budgets.

With renters desperate to find affordable homes, crafty scammers have seized the chance to place fake ads on the market, often in dream locations with lower-than-average rents.

While some of these scams may be easy to spot, others can be highly sophisticated, with fraudsters setting up professional-looking websites and even allowing hopeful tenants to view their properties in person.

Recently The Local reported on a Polish couple who lost around €7,000 through a rental scam in Berlin. The scammers had sublet a beautiful Altbau apartment in the popular district of Neukölln and created an advert for it via a fake letting agent website, then arranged for people to use a key box to view the property while the real tenants were away.

Despite checking the contract over with legal experts from their local tenants’ association, nobody saw anything out of the ordinary – that is, until they tried to access the apartment and found a family already living there.

So, how do you protect your hard-earned savings and steer clear of scammers while looking for a new home?

Here are 10 important ways to protect yourself from rental scams.

1. Be alert to suspicious signs

The key to avoiding scammers in Germany is to be fully clued up on the warning signs. Was the listing for the property uploaded in the middle of the night, is the advert thin on details or written in bad German or English, and does the offer feel too good to be true?

Though it would be nice to believe there are still cheap flats to be found, finding an attractive property at an overly reasonable price is usually a red flag.

Hamburg

Modern apartments in Hamburg. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Daniel Bockwoldt

If someone claiming to be a landlord contacts you out of the blue, that’s also your cue to run a mile. With so many people looking for housing, most letting agents and landlords will have more than people looking to rent their properties without needing to get in touch with people themselves. Anyone who does is more than likely to be a scammer.

2. Rule out landlords who say they live abroad

One of the major warning signs to look out for is a landlord who claims to be renting the property from abroad, or who says they are out of the country for other reasons, like a last-minute business trip.

That’s usually a scammer’s way of excusing the fact that they won’t be able to meet you personally or even show you the property before you rent it.

“When the country the landlord lives in appears then I would say there’s a really big chance this is a scam,” said Kuba Rudzinski, one of the victims of the Berlin-Neukölln rental fraud.

Even if the excuse seems plausible, your best bet is to ignore anyone who tries to sell you a story about living abroad and simply move on with your house hunt.

3. Do your research online

Before committing to anything, take time to do some thorough research to scope out the property, landlord and letting agent.

Running the pictures and text used in apartment listings through a search engine like Google will help you quickly identify stock photos and text stolen from other listings. For pictures, this is known as a reverse image search.

A laptop

Photo by 2H Media on Unsplash

It’s also worth checking that any websites you’re sent to are fully functional and not copies of other letting agent sites, and that any email addresses match the website domain.

4. Visit the property and ask around

Never agree to rent a property without seeing it in person first. Arrange a viewing and take the opportunity to ask questions about the property and the neighbourhood.

Kuba also recommends speaking with the neighbours in the building to check if the property is genuinely being rented.

“Go to the place before and ask the neighbours, is this flat really for rent? Because these people generally know,” he said. “You’ll need to convince yourself to do it of course, but just ask in the building, ask on the floor where the flat is.”

5. Don’t transfer the full deposit in advance

Advance payments for anything, whether it’s furniture, a deposit or getting a chance to view the property, should be considered a major red flag.

Under German law, you are usually only expected to pay the deposit by the start of the agreed rental contract – and certainly not several months in advance.

Euro notes lie next to some house keys on a table.

Euro notes lie next to some house keys on a table. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Andrea Warnecke

You are also legally entitled to pay your three months’ deposit in three instalments on top of your first three months’ rent after moving in, so definitely be cautious of landlords that place pressure on you to transfer a large lump sum.

If you’re really concerned, look into alternatives for paying your deposit, such as Kautionversicherung (deposit insurance) or a Mietkautionssparbuch, where you open a bank account and pledge the amount to the landlord, rather than transferring the money directly.

6. Insist on meeting the landlord or letting agent in person

If a landlord or letting agent refuses to meet you in person or insists on conducting all communication online, they’re probably not who they say they are.

Insist on meeting face-to-face to verify their identity and ensure they have a legitimate connection to the property.

7. Avoid sending documents straight away

Not all rental scams are about getting money from you directly: many scammers are simply after your personal details for the purposes of identity theft.

Be wary of providing personal documents or sensitive information before you’ve verified the legitimacy of the rental agreement, especially when it comes to things like passport scans or other forms of ID.

8. Seek legal advice from experts

If you’re unsure about any aspect of the rental agreement or if something seems suspicious, seek advice from legal experts or tenants’ associations.

However, be aware that this isn’t always a cast-iron guarantee that a tenancy is legitmate. Over the past few years, fraudsters have become increasingly sophisticated, even down to producing water-tight rental contracts for would-be tenants.

An estate agent hands over keys to an apartment. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-tmn | Christin Klose

According to civil lawyer Emilia Tintelnot, becoming a member of a tenants’ association can be a good way to get affordable legal advice, and it can also be helpful to set up legal insurance to ensure you can access help when you need it without having to pay lawyers’ fees up front.

9. Be wary of stereotypes

Avoid making assumptions based on stereotypes or preconceived notions about someone’s gender or nationality, as this may cause you to overlook things you might otherwise see as warning signs.

In Kuba’s case, the fact that the fraudsters were German made them appear more legitimate in his eyes, as Polish people tend to see Germans as law-abiding and trustworthy.

Be aware that scammers can come from any cultural background and may use a variety of tactics to deceive unsuspecting renters.

10. Keep an extensive paper trail

Document all communication, agreements, and transactions related to the rental process, including phone numbers and any bank details provided.

According to the Berlin police, this type of evidence can be crucial for an investigation if you do suspect a scammer.

While evidence can differ across cases, “pictures, contact details used by the perpetrators, original documents, bank details with payment receipts” are particularly helpful for investigators, and could help the police stop the scammers for good.

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