Berner Haupt Verlag celebrates its 111th anniversary this year
The traditional company, which includes Haupt Verlag, the Haupt bookshop and Atelier 14B, has been independent since 1906 and is still family-owned. Publisher Matthias Haupt, the management and the team of around 25 people are highly committed to their "main concern", the good book.
There is hardly a designer in the German-speaking world who has not learned about and used creative techniques with main books, hardly a Swiss botanist who does not eagerly use the "Flora Helvetica" - and nowadays goes into the field with the accompanying app, and hardly a Bernese woman who has not browsed for reading material or attended readings in the bookshop on Falkenplatz. Over the last 15 years, what was once a broadly diversified academic publisher has become an innovative non-fiction publisher with an international reputation. The whole thing is supported by a dedicated team of around 25 employees. The focus is on the "good book". Books that impart sound knowledge and provide inspiration for meaningful leisure activities. This is how Haupt Verlag has become one of the leading creative and nature book publishers in the German-speaking world. Customers from all over Switzerland visit the Haupt bookshop with its carefully compiled range of books, from architecture to design and fiction, as well as its diverse range of events.
"We are 111 years old because in our long company history, economic aspects have never been the only driving force behind our activities as bookmakers and booksellers," publisher Matthias Haupt is convinced. Today, he is the third generation to run the company together with a management team consisting of Regine Balmer (Head of Editing), Frank Heins (Head of Marketing and Sales), Irene Pulfer (Head of Finance/Personnel) and Adela Haupt (Head of Bookshop).
The Bernese family business was founded in 1906 as an "academic bookshop" on Erlachstrasse near Bern University. The first owner, Max Drechsel, died in 1918 and his friend and colleague Paul Haupt took over. Soon books were also being published. In 1919, the bookshop moved to its current location on Bern's Falkenplatz. Each generation of entrepreneurs left their mark: Paul Haupt (1899-1978) as publisher of the "Schweizer Heimatbücher" and the "Urwald-Doktor" Albert Schweitzer. Dr. Max Haupt (1918-2002) expanded the publishing house from 1946, primarily with series on law and economics. Under Matthias Haupt, the publishing house underwent the above-mentioned reorientation towards high-quality non-fiction books.
In its anniversary year 2017, Haupt Verlag was recently named "Publisher of the Year" by "Schweizer Buchhandel" magazine. "Great topics, super-current trends and incredibly beautifully designed books. [...] This family business is anything but traditional," it said in its citation. The publishing house will remain committed to this tradition in the future: Patrizia Haupt, daughter of Matthias and Adela Haupt, joined the publishing house in 2016 as Product Manager E-Publishing, the fourth generation to do so. So the next 111 years can be tackled!
