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Springer - Driving academic publishing since 1842
On 10 May 1842 (his 25th birthday), Julius Springer founded his bookstore and publishing house in Berlin, laying the foundation for today’s company. After 175 dynamic years the name Springer stands for a globally active publisher dedicated to the advancement of science, putting its authors and editors at the heart of the company’s publishing activities.
When Julius Springer founded a bookstore and publishing house in Berlin on May 10, 1842, the world was in a phase of unprecedented change, primarily due to industrialization. Rapid, scientific innovations and the birth of a new international community were the result.
Initially, the “Julius Springer Publishing House” chiefly published political caricatures and treatises reflecting the spirit of Germany’s Vormärz period, but it also increasingly specialized in literature from the natural sciences and engineering. Springer’s publishing activities promoted the rise of these disciplines, paving the way for the modern knowledge-based society.The focus of the publishing house’s portfolio began shifting even further to engineering and technical disciplines.
Springer’s authors at this time included prominent names like Werner von Siemens and Rudolf Diesel. In the 1880s, Springer took over several scientific journals that quickly became staples in the professional world, e.g. VDI (in 1882).
Becoming Germany´s leading scientific publisher (1906-1945)
In this period, publishers increasingly became engines of scientific advancement. Many Springer authors and editors were highly respected experts, including Nobel prizewinners like Paul Ehrlich, Emil Fischer and Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin. In 1913, Springer was the second largest German publisher, with a total of 379 titles.
Cover.NAWI.Jan.1913 © SpringerThe publishing portfolio was constantly expanded and, after 1910, medical texts became the most important sector. In this period, Springer began publishing the Handbuch der Neurologie, Handbuch der Inneren Medizin, and the Allgemeine Zeitschrift für die gesamte Neurologie und Psychiatrie, edited by Alois Alzheimer. In 1913, Springer launched Die Naturwissenschaften (today: The Science of Nature), an interdisciplinary periodical expressly inspired by the British journal Nature. In the field of engineering, Springer released Heinrich Dubbels’ Taschenbuch für den Maschinenbau in 1914, a publication that is still considered a standard work to this day. In addition, the acquisition of other publishers further expanded the portfolio.
Despite the outbreak of the First World War, Springer’s publishing activities continued without any major disruptions. However, the presence of the war was reflected in the publications: for example, in 1916 Springer released Ferdinand Sauerbruch’s study Die willkürlich bewegbare künstliche Hand.