The AZ was founded in 1946 as Aachener Volkszeitung (AVZ) by Jakob Schmitz, Josef Hofmann, Albert Maas and Johannes Ernst, first printed on 22 February 1946.

The paper was printed initially only two or three times a week, but daily every working day from 1 September 1949; it is sold mainly by subscription and the circulation is about 112,000 copies.

[1] The paper supplies news from around the world, but with a focus on the region, its politics, economy, culture, sports and weather, for readers in Aachen, Eschweiler, Geilenkirchen and Jülich.

Mathieu is a lecturer at the Aachen University of Applied Sciences for Digital Business in media and communications studies.

Mathieu initiated online news service, namely a digital daily evening news "AmAbend" with photo galleries and videos, provided from 7 pm, in addition to the printed papers which include weekly specials on Wednesdays and Sundays.