Fürstlich Sächsischer Hofbuchdruckerei zu Altenburg
Fürstlich Sächsischer Hofbuchdruckerei of Altenburg, Germany, is used generically in this article to denote a succession of book printers (sometimes synonymous with "publishers") based in Altenburg, in the German state of Thuringia (formerly East Germany), that — under various capacities, names, and owners – have endured as one continuous printing operation, without interruption (save and except wars), for four hundred and thirty-one years — since 1594,[1][a] the early modern German period.
The Fürstlich Sächsische Hofdruckerei, the ducal printing press, was established at the Hartenfels Castle (de) in Torgau in 1594 by appointment of Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (1562–1602).
During this period, his printing press was among the 20 known to produce the Biblia Germanica, the Luther Bible (1676), with the woodcut engravings of Jakob Mores (Mörs) (lived approx.
[3][4][b] In 1709, Johann Ludwig Richter, one of Gottfried's sons, purchased the royal publishing house from Duke Ernest and, henceforth, it became known as Richter'sche Hofbuchdruckerei.
Richter desired to continue as bookseller and did not want to lose his "Privilegium Exclusivum" (as a royal appointed book seller); but, lost it.
His effort was an impetus for the founding of a publishing house that became Schnuphase'sche Buchhandlung of Altenburg, which was the forerunner to present-day firm, E. Reinhold Verlag (de).
[5][6] On 1 July 1799, the firm was acquired by Johann Friedrich Pierer (de) (1767–1832), and became known as Pierer'sche Hofbuchdruckerei.
The Leipzig-Altenburg Railway – completed September 19, 1842 – greatly enhanced the supply chain from Pierer'sche Hofbuchdruckerei to bookdealers in Leipzig.
The personnel included Managing Director Hans Stephan Geibel, Director Curt Brandt, and authorized signatories Joachim von Baerensprung, Hanns Bretschneider, August Drescher, Hans Ernst, Heinrich Hansen.
The firm's assets were confiscated by the state of Thuringia at the turn of 1950–1951, which marked the end of the private enterprise, "Pierer'schen Hofbuchdruckerei Stephan Geibel & Co." The company was reconstituted as Betrieb und VEB Druckhaus "Maxim Gorki" Altenburg, the namesake of a Russian and Soviet writer and five-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
In 1956, the firm was transferred to the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin, and continued to print mostly scientific journals.
[g] On August 15, 1990 – after the collapse of the GDR, and the reunification of Germany, the firm — under Treuhandanstalt, a government agency established to administer the selling of assets, including entire companies, that had been owned by the DDR — registered as Maxim-Gorki-Druck GmbH.
Among other things, the firm upgraded from lead typesetting to photographic reproduction and offset printing.
(these are teachings or sermons of Martin Luther, translated from German to Latin by Johanne Wanckel (de)) 1955 (Vol.
15), semiannual; ISSN 0012-1312(all issues can be viewed online via digi.evifa.de/viewer/toc/BV042275036/1/LOG_0000/, sponsored by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) 1st ed.
