Julius Springer

Julius Springer (10 May 1817 – 17 April 1877) was a German publisher who founded the academic publishing house Springer Science+Business Media (formerly known as Springer-Verlag).

Springer-Verlag

In 1842, Springer founded the retail bookshop Springer in Berlin at the address Breite Strasse 20 (now No. 11). Springer and his son Ferdinand grew it from a small firm of 4 employees into Germany's second largest academic publisher with 65 staff in just 30 years. Springer's book business later became Springer-Verlag and then Springer Science+Business Media which is one of the largest and most prominent academic publishers in the world today.

Life

In 1848 he took part in the side of the insurgents in action against the authorities. Springer was from 1867 to 1873 president of the German Booksellers and Publishers Association. From 1869 until his death, Springer was a member of the Berlin city assembly. In addition, he was one of the pioneers of national and international copyright law.

Julius Springer bore no relation to the 20th century publisher Axel Springer.

Plaque

Plaque at Breite Straße 11 in Berlin-Mitte

The text of the plaque at Breite Straße 11 in Berlin-Mitte reads:

Julius Springer

1817 - 1877

Verlagsbuchhändler, gründete an dieser Stelle

am 10. Mai 1842 den Springer Verlag,

heute einer der größten Wissenschaftsverlage der Welt.

(Julius Springer, 1817–1877, publisher, founded here on the 10th of May 1842 Springer-Verlag, today one of the biggest scientific publishing houses in the world.)

External links

• Short biography (in German)
• Verlags- und Familiengeschichte