Der Postillon
Der Postillon startete 2008 auf der eigenen Website, setzte aber von Beginn an konsequent auf die Verbreitung von Inhalten auf den sozialen Medien. Die konsequente Verbreitung über Netzwerke wie Facebook, Twitter (X), YouTube und später Instagram, WhatsApp und TikTok verschaffte der Satiremarke eine Reichweite, die in Spitzenzeiten klassische Nachrichtenportale übertraf.
Thematisch dominieren politische, gesellschaftliche und mediale Absurditäten, zugespitzt im Stil von Zeitungsredaktionen, wobei das erklärte Ziel die pointierte Entlarvung von Missständen und der satirische Kommentar zum Zeitgeschehen ist. Der Postillon bezieht sich in seiner Satire nicht nur auf das politische Geschehen an sich, sondern auch auf die mediale Präsentation dessen. So sind im Sommer 2025 auch zunehmend per KI-Bildgenerierung erstelle Beiträge auf den Kanälen zu finden, welche den Trend von Falschnachrichten und KI-Nutzung zur Informationsbeschaffung karikieren.Teil der Strategie des Postillon ist es, gezielt in den Austausch mit der Community zu treten – so etwa, wenn Nutzer, Prominente oder Politiker Satire für Realität halten, worauf Postillon teils spitz und öffentlichkeitswirksam reagiert.
Gründer Stefan Sichermann ist gelernter Journalist und war vor der Eigenständigkeit mit dem Postillon in der Werbebranche aktiv. Er steuert als Geschäftsführer, Herausgeber und Chefredakteur die Seite quasi alleine, beschäftigt jedoch ein kleines Team von festen und freien Autoren, wobei Erlöse aus Werbung, Buchverkauf und Merchandise stammen. Im Oktober 2025 startete der Postillon eine Printauflage mit einer Stärke von 25.000 Auflagen im Monat.
Der Postillon hat keine dezidierte politische Ausrichtung, findet jedoch starke Resonanz in einem gebildeten und politisch interessierten Umfeld mit seiner Mischung aus politischer Satire und Medienkritik. Stefan Sichermann selbst hat sich in Interviews als “ziemlich links” eingeordnet. Sein Interesse an anderen Medienorganisationen bleibt distanziert, auch Werbung von Großunternehmen wie der Deutschen Bank oder der CSU lehnt er ab, was er explizit mit Unabhängigkeit begründet.
Key Facts
| Social Media Accounts | ||||||
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| Platform | User Name | User Handle | Followers | Following | Likes | Views |
 | Der Postillon | @Der_Postillon | 296,000 | 66,295,770 | ||
 | Der Postillon | @DerPostillon | 2,800,000 | 8 | 2,670,434 | |
| Faktillon - das Faktenportal des Postillon | @Faktillon | 489,698 | 2 | 604,099 | |
 | Der Postillon | @realpostillon | 1,500,000 | 19 | ||
 | Der Postillon | @der_postillon | 178,800 | 18 | 3,100,000 | |
 | Der Postillon | @Der_Postillon | 1,400,000 | 149 | ||
 | Der Postillon | @Der Postillon | 338,000 | |||
 | Der Postillon | @postillon_satire | 4,371 | |||
| Data Publicly Available | ownership data is easily available from other sources, e. g. public registries etc. |
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| Language | German |
| Founding Year | 2008 Der Postillon's online portal was founded in 2008 by Stefan Sichermann. Its first presence on social media was in 2010 on Twitter/X and Facebook, followed by YouTube in 2012 and TikTok in 2024. |
Ownership
| Individual Owner |
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Facts
| Topics Covered / Focus Areas | Der Postillon is a satirical medium that comments humorously and critically on current social and political issues. It uses the format of traditional newspapers to comment on current events in society and politics. The goal is to come as close as possible to the appearance of a trustworthy medium in order to generate subversive momentum through absurd or subversive headlines. Another site operated by Sichermann is Der Faktillon, which ridicules well-known "facts" and useless-knowledge channels on social media by publishing informative-seeming images and infographics containing nonsense information. |
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| Views / Values / Political Stances | Der Postillon has no official political positions. Founder Stefan Sichermann emphasizes that all texts are "brazenly made up" and thus consciously satirical. All relevant political parties and figures in public discourse are equally covered with contributions. Der Postillon sees its task as fueling social debates with its reach, not necessarily through direct political influence. |
| Mode of Delivery | Der Postillon uses the characteristics of traditional media for its satire. In its image formats on Instagram, Twitter/X, and Facebook, a headline typically appears as the lead, accompanied by the Postillon logo or a reference to the website. Some videos employ professional filming techniques that exhibit characteristics of news reports, while others are produced in "news anchor" formats. On TikTok, there is also a specially produced format in which an alleged reporter addresses users directly. Increasingly, AI-generated images and videos are also found on Postillon's channels, intended to support the medium's absurd headlines. Der Postillon also maintains an active community by posting "the best comments" once a week. These comments are jokes in reference to Postillon's posts, but also users who find the content outrageous or do not recognize the satire as such. It has become a running gag in the community to give these comments many likes in order to lend the posts more authenticity. |
| Reputation | Der Postillon is by far the largest satirical portal in the German media landscape and has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the Grimme Online Award 2013. The medium itself rarely experiences criticism, as its content is clearly recognizable as satire, yet posts are occasionally called tasteless, for example posts about people with disabilities or the attack on Charlie Kirk. Criticism mainly arises from the blurring of boundaries between satire and real news, when Postillon articles are uncritically adopted by other media or perceived as authentic by politicians. |
| Target Audience | Der Postillon's target audience consists primarily of a digitally engaged readership aged approximately 20 to 45 years with an interest in political and social issues and an appreciation for satirical forms of presentation. According to founder Stefan Sichermann, readers are predominantly left-liberal in orientation, as the left-wing political spectrum is generally more receptive to satire, whereas right-wing readers frequently either do not recognize the satirical intent or reject it. |
| Part of Network or Campaign | Der Postillon is not part of a larger network. However, its strong presence on social media as well as five million monthly visits to the website make it one of the most successful German web offerings, which in its reach exceeds many traditional media outlets. |
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| Cross-Posting & Friends | Der Postillon does not engage in active cross-posting. Persons seen at Der Postillon are typically employed there—such as Thieß Neubert in his role as Postillon24 news anchor. In part, Der Postillon engages actors for its contributions. In the past, Der Postillon has supplied content for public radio stations—such as NDR's youth station N-Joy or Bayern 3. This drew criticism that such content was not sufficiently labeled. |
| Endorsements & Recognitions | Apart from awards that Daniel Sichermann and Der Postillon received early in his work, Der Postillon has no connection to state institutions. It occasionally happens that public figures, such as former AfD chairwoman Beatrix von Storch in 2016, share posts from Der Postillon because they did not recognize them as satire. |
| Business Model | Der Postillon is financed primarily through advertising revenue, merchandise, and subscriptions, which are operated via the publication's website. All content from Der Postillon shared on social media includes a link to this website. With over five million web visits, Der Postillon is larger than most regional daily newspapers, such as the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, the Freie Presse, or the Frankfurter Neue Rundschau. Der Postillon also operates its own app. Since October 2025, Der Postillon has also appeared in print version with approximately 4,000 subscribers nationwide. |
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| Revenue | Missing DataMissing Data |