Verlag Herder

German publisher

Verlag Herder is a publishing company started by the Herders, a German family. The company focuses primarily on Catholic topics of ecclesiology, Christian mysticism, women's studies, and the development of younger Catholic theologians.

In 1801 Bartholomäus Herder founded the publishing firm in Meersburg. Among the first publications, which were mainly of a theological and pedagogic character, were Ignaz Heinrich von Wessenberg's "Archiv für pastorale Conferenzen in den Landkapiteln des Bisthums Constanz" (1802–27). In 1810 the business moved to Freiburg im Breisgau, where, in connection with the university, a more comprehensive character was given to the publications and helped in developing new directions. One of the most important publications was Karl von Rotteck's "Allgemeine Geschichte vom Anfang der historischen Kenntniss bis auf unsere Zeiten" (9 volumes, 1812–27; the 15th edition being issued by another firm). Being entrusted with the publication of the official war bulletin, the "Teutsche Blätter", by the royal and imperial authorities at headquarters as early as the end of 1813, Herder went to Paris with the allied armies in 1815 in Metternich's train as "Director of the Royal and Imperial Field Press". After the end of the war, Herder founded an art institution for lithography, copperplate engraving, and modeling in terra cotta, in connection with the publishing business. More than three hundred pupils were educated there, while the sumptuous illustrations and maps that were issued mark an epoch in the history of this branch of technic–especially the "Heilige Schriften des Alten und Neuen Testamentes in 200 biblischen Kupfern" (the Holy Writ of the Old and the New Testament in 200 biblical engravings), of which Herder reproduced numerous impressions by an original lithographic process, and Woerl's "Atlas von Central Europa in 60 Blättern" (Atlas of Central Europe in 60 plates, 1830), which was the earliest employment of two colour lithography. As late as 1870 this atlas rendered important service to the German army by reason of the map of France it contained. Although such great achievements won a European reputation for the house, the commercial profits derived therefrom were entirely disproportionate to the expenditure. Consequently the condition of the house at Bartholomäus Herder's death in 1839 was by no means a satisfactory one. His two sons succeeded to the heritage.

Under the management of Hermann Herder, a series of collections, chiefly theological and historical, were issued. Publishing started in foreign languages, principally Spanish and English. In the 21st century, various annuals have been published. These include the "Geschichte der Weltliteratur" of Alexander Baumgartner, the definitive collection of sources for the Tridentine Council, the third, completely revised, edition of the "Konversations Lexikon", and Joseph Wilpert's work, Fractio Panis, die alteste Darstellung der eucharistischen Opfers (Freiburg in Breisgau) on the catacombs. In 1906 a branch of the firm was established at Berlin. The firm also established an office in St. Louis, Missouri. In this location, the firm continued to be a source of Catholic catechetical and scholastical work. Virtually every work ever published by Karl Rahner was introduced by Herder. The Freiburg branch was the original publisher for several works by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI).

In the 1990s, the American imprint of Herder & Herder was brought back under the international Herder publishing family. Gwendolin Herder became the CEO of The Crossroad Publishing Company, based in New York. Manuel Herder was in charge of operations in Freiburg, Germany, and Raimund Herder led the office in Barcelona, Spain.