FAZIT-STIFTUNG

The FAZIT-STIFTUNG Gemeinnützige Verlagsgesellschaft mbH was founded in 1959 when the then majority shareholder of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Allgemeine Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, was transformed into the FAZIT-STIFTUNG Gemeinnützige Verlagsgesellschaft mbH.

The founders of the FAZ, especially publisher Erich Welter, had long considered how the newspaper's editorial and entrepreneurial independence could be effectively and permanently secured. Experience from the Weimar Republic of how political and business groups could influence a newspaper's editorial policy through a majority stake was still fresh. A non-profit foundation as the majority shareholder was considered the best solution to institutionally anchor the newspaper's independence.