The media company Axel Springer plans to close its printing site in Ahrensburg near Hamburg. The company confirmed this in Berlin on Tuesday at the request of the German Press Agency.
The Verdi union had previously announced and criticized the plans. According to Springer, the site is expected to close in the second half of 2024. About 100 employees are affected. One is in exchange with the works councils.
Springer wants to distribute the partial editions to its own printers
The printer takes care of regional and partial editions of the Springer brands Picture, picture on sunday, World and world on Sunday. In addition, that will also Hamburg evening paperwhich belongs to the Funke media group, as well as partial editions of Süddeutsche Zeitung printed there. Springer wants to distribute printed partial editions to its own printers in Berlin-Spandau and Essen-Kettwig. As a reason for the planned end in Ahrensburg, the group called a “non-existent economic perspective”.
The situation in Ahrensburg is special: not only Springer prints there, but also Bertelsmann. Their large print shop will also close next year. Springer, however, is dependent on Bertelsmann for the energy supply in Ahrensburg. If Bertelsmann closes its printing site in 2024, the Axel Springer Group also sees no future: An alternative energy supply is not sustainable due to the print sector, which has been declining for years, according to Springer.
In any case, Springer wants to convert its newspaper business into a purely digital business in the coming years – in the future, the publisher will say goodbye to the printed newspaper business. The Verdi union, however, criticized the fact that Springer had done nothing to ensure a self-sufficient energy supply at the site.
