Stuttgarter Zeitung

Stuttgarter Zeitung is a German daily newspaper established on September 18, 1945, following the American occupying forces' granting of one of the first printing licenses in post-war southern Germany to Josef Eberle, Henry Bernhard, and Karl Ackermann. The newspaper adopted a liberal editorial stance from its inception and covers both local Stuttgart-area news and national political events. Under founding editor Josef Eberle, the publication rapidly developed into a respected regional outlet with national ambitions and an established network of correspondents.
Stuttgarter Zeitung is published jointly with Stuttgarter Nachrichten by Pressehaus Stuttgart. The two newspapers reach a combined audience of approximately 470,000 readers across print and digital editions, making them among the widest-reaching media outlets in Baden-Württemberg. Though the publications maintain distinct designs, their editorial content is substantially unified. Since 2016, both newspapers have shared a substantial portion of their editorial staff, though each maintains its own exclusive authors and editors-in-chief.

In 2025, Neue Pressegesellschaft (NPG) GmbH, owned by the Ebner family and Ruth Aberle, acquired an 82% stake in Medienholding Süd, the holding company that owns both Stuttgarter Zeitung and Stuttgarter Nachrichten. The acquisition also included their local editions, Eßlinger Zeitung, Schwarzwälder Bote, and related district newspapers. The 2025 acquisition significantly expanded media concentration in the greater Stuttgart area and the Swabia region, as NPG newspapers such as Südwest Presse were often the only competitors to the Stuttgart papers in Swabia. The Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) criticized the acquisition for intensifying this market concentration. Additionally, minority shareholders of the holding company—primarily descendants of regional newspapers previously acquired by Südwestdeutsche Medienholding GmbH (SWMH)—objected to the sale, stating they were only informed of the holding company's breakup after the deal closed. The acquisition resulted in the dispersal of SWMH's portfolio, leaving the Süddeutsche Zeitung and a few regional newspapers from Upper Franconia within SWMH, whose future remains uncertain.