Historical facts or leaving the niche

It was into an atmosphere of suspense, scepticism and euphoria that the Hörverlag, founded in 1993, published its first program in May 1995 – including the radio play of Jostein Gaarder’s “Sofie’s World”. Earlier attempts to establish literature on audio books in a larger market had proved to be failures. The medium was underestimated as a substitute for books used only by senior citizens and visually handicapped persons. Pessimists even regarded this unwelcome medial offspring as a threat to reading culture. By contrast reports about record sales on the US market invoked a notion of an immense potential, and much more importantly, the founding members – including, among others, the renowned German literary publishing houses Carl Hanser, Suhrkamp, Kiepenheuer & Witsch and Klett-Cotta – were convinced that the suitable way of conveying a special literary experience was via the spoken word.
In 2006 the economical success and creativity of the company was honored by the Bavarian Ministry of Economy with its State Medal for Extraordinary Services to the Bavarian Economy.

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