Bertelsmann AG - Early History

Carl Bertelsmann began working as a bookbinder in his hometown of Gutersloh, Germany, in 1819. The bookbinder's initial work consisted of printing and binding hymnals for nearby churches. In 1835, Bertelsmann incorporated his business as C. Bertelsmann Verlag. Bertelsmann died in 1850, leaving his son Heinrich a sizable inheritance and control of the family business. Missionsharfe (Missionary Harp) was first published in 1853 and became Bertelsmann's first bestseller with a circulation of more than 2 million copies. The firm's early success encouraged Heinrich to began expanding beyond religious books to publish historical works and even novels.

Friederike Bertelsmann, Heinrich's daughter, married Johannes Mohn in 1881. Because Heinrich had no male heirs, the Mohn family inherited the business upon his death in 1887. In an effort to increase production at a minimal cost, Mohn expanded Bertelsmann's internal printing operations.

The firm nearly went under twice in the first half of the twentieth century—once due to skyrocketing inflation in Germany and another time thanks to World War II. Allied forces bombed Gutersloh in 1945, destroying most of Bertelsmann's 400 printers, typesetters, and publishers there. Reinhard Mohn, grandson of Johannes Mohn, set about rebuilding the company almost immediately. In 1950, to counter a marked drop in book purchasing by Germans, Mohn launched Bertelsmann Lesering, a book club that granted bargains and other perks to members. To boost membership numbers quickly, Mohn also marketed Lesering to retail booksellers in West Germany by offering those who chose to become members a set number of free books each year.

The rapid success of Bertelsmann Lesering—which amassed 1 million members in less than four years—set the stage for additional growth. Bertels-mann bought a small portion of Gruner+Jahr, a publishing company based in Hamburg in 1969, and 10 years later upped its stake to nearly 75 percent. Bertelsmann also entered the American book publishing arena by purchasing a controlling stake in thriving U.S. paperback publisher Bantam Books. The company also ventured outside of book publishing for the first time by acquiring the Arista record label from Columbia Pictures.