In 1949 Wagenbach started an apprenticeship at the publishing house Suhrkamp/ Fischer (at this time one company).
[2] He published authors like Wolf Biermann, Günter Grass, Hans Werner Richter, Ingeborg Bachmann and others.
He supported the poet Erich Fried and was friends with the Italian publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
In its essential points, it provided for extensive co-determination of the publishing house members in all economic processes, the same salary for all employees and regular discussions of all important matters.
One of the greatest successes of Wagenbach Verlag in 2008 was the German edition of Alan Bennett's The Uncommon Reader, Die souveräne Leserin.