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The firm was founded as a publishing house and print shop in July 1835, in Gütersloh, by Carl Bertelsmann. At first Bertelsmann concentrated on Christian songs and books. In 1851, led by Carl Bertelsmann's son Heinrich, the company began publishing novels. During the following years Bertelsmann expanded steadily, acquiring in 1861 the publishing house S. G. Liesching in Stuttgart and in 1870 the Berlin-based printer J. D. Küster.

In 1910 the house began publishing its first newspaper, Zeitschrift Der Christliche Erzähler, which closed in 1917 in the wake of the Great War. Subsequently the firm concentrated on book publishing, transferring its headquarters from Gütersloh to Berlin in 1928. It was not until 1945 that the firm returned to newspaper publishing, taking a half-interest in the new Der Tagesspiegel.

With the financial backing of Bertelsmann Der Tagesspiegel quickly became one of Germany’s leading newspapers, acquiring its rivals Berliner Tageblatt and Berliner Abendpost early in 1946, and going on to purchase provincial newspapers including the Braunschweiger Zeitung, the Hannoverscher Anzeiger, and the Rheinische Post during 1946, making Der Tagesspiegel one of the first German newspapers with a national circulation.

This firm is one of Germany's oldest and largest publishing houses. Founded by Bertram Hilden in 1620, Marcus du Mont acquired the Kölnische Zeitung in 1805 - then the business's main newspaper. The company has been managed by the Neven du Mont family since then and has acquired numerous local and national newspapers and magazines. The company's headquarters is located in Köln. The largest newspaper published by M. DuMont Schauberg is the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, published since 1876. It has the largest circulation in the Köln region.

In 1919 the firm founded the Berliner Morgenpost, a regional newspaper serving Greater Berlin, and in 1926 acquired the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung of Weimar. In 1930 it began publishing the monthly illustrated magazine Hochland, which was followed in 1932 by Autozeitung, and in 1934 by Eisenbahn Kurier. In addition to its news and media publishing activities, the firm specialises in the publishing of textbooks and scholarly works for German schools and universities.