{"id":11443,"date":"2026-01-17T11:39:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T10:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=11443"},"modified":"2026-01-31T11:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T10:20:08","slug":"mare-ist-jetzt-eine-genossenschaft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2026\/01\/mare-is-now-a-cooperative\/","title":{"rendered":"mare is now a cooperative"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Anyone browsing through this blog<\/a> will quickly notice that I present numerous books published by the mareverlag<\/a>. I love these beautiful, high\u2011quality classics, and these days it\u2019s rare to find books produced with such care. The mareverlag has remained true to this standard for many years, and as a result, I now have a lovely collection on my shelves. I haven\u2019t missed a single volume from the classics series. Naturally, I follow very closely what\u2019s happening at mare. All the more surprised I was when I read that the publisher is to become a cooperative. What does that mean for the future of mare? Is it the beginning of the end or the start of a success story? Read my assessment here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The mareverlag was founded in the mid\u20111990s by marine biologist Nikolaus Gelpke. Since the early 2000s, the publisher has released books in addition to its magazines. In 2010, the mare classics series<\/a> was launched, and since then new, beautifully produced editions have appeared regularly. For me, these are the highest\u2011quality and best classic editions available in the German\u2011speaking world. With slipcases, cloth bindings, ribbon bookmarks, consistently fine paper, carefully chosen typography, and coordinated colors, these books are a delight for bibliophile avid readers. And of course, the content is equally rich: newly translated texts, often appearing in German for the first time. Sometimes true discoveries, sometimes wonderfully solid classics. A marvelous, wide\u2011ranging selection. The books always carry the sea within them, along with a wonderfully maritime atmosphere.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Kanon<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The two seasonal program previews are a must for me every year. The mareverlag is usually rather late with its previews, but I always wait eagerly for the new classic. (A small tip: if you search<\/a> on Amazon in the Classics category for upcoming German hardcovers, you\u2019ll often find the mare classics listed a little earlier, before the official preview appears.)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Besides the classics, the mareverlag also publishes other very popular books, often seen on Instagram and belonging to contemporary literature. I also love the beautiful books about adventures in the polar regions or nonfiction titles such as the wonderful Atlas of Remote Islands<\/a> or No Man\u2019s Land<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The exciting question for me is what the transformation from a privately run company into a cooperative means for the publisher. The book division will be headed by Judith Weber<\/a>, which strongly suggests that the established and proven strategy will continue. Judith has been working at the publisher since 2008, so it\u2019s unlikely that anything major will change \u2014 a good sign in my view. Nikolaus Gelpke is not withdrawing completely either; he will continue to contribute as a regular member. The magazine division will also remain in familiar waters with long\u2011standing staff. All in all, very good signs that not much will change and that mare will continue to publish good and beautiful books.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Von<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The second question I asked myself concerns economic development. And let\u2019s be honest: the book market is currently in massive decline<\/a>. From a purely economic perspective, one might wish for tough capitalists to run the publisher \u2014 the kind who sit in big tech companies. But as an avid reader, that\u2019s the last thing you\u2019d want, because the wrecking ball would swing, and the classics would likely be the first casualties. So is the cooperative model a good strategy? The term \u201ccooperative\u201d alone sounds very much like socialism \u2014 in other words, economic destruction. One publisher that has taken this path is the B\u00fcchergilde Gutenberg<\/a>, whose bibliophile books have a similar orientation. So how has the B\u00fcchergilde developed as a cooperative?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In 2014, the B\u00fcchergilde was transformed into a cooperative. Just like at mareverlag, one share costs 500 euros \u2014 enough to build a solid capital base, but low enough for private individuals to participate. How has the B\u00fcchergilde developed? Looking at the 2024 annual report<\/a>, you can see that the B\u00fcchergilde cooperative has 1,965 members. At the end of 2020, the cooperative had around 1,400 members<\/a>. So the growth is quite respectable.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Looking at the figures of the B\u00fcchergilde Gutenberg publishing house, it faces the usual difficulties of the book market. In 2024, there was a loss<\/a> of 257,000 euros, in 2023 a loss<\/a> of nearly 195,000 euros, and in 2022 a loss of about 98,000 euros. The shrinking book market and massive inflation are clearly taking their toll. The negative equity is also very concerning. Looking at the cooperative itself, however, it is highly stabilizing \u2014 it is the financial backbone and even generated a small surplus. Without the cooperative, the publisher would likely face massive problems. The number of members (i.e., customers) of the publishing house has been stable at around 60,000 for several years. But here too, there seems to have been a significant decline in the past: in 2021, the website still advertised 80,000 members<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Given the shrinking book market and the ongoing structural problems the publishing world faces in a stagnating economy, the transformation into a cooperative is likely an excellent choice. It is unlikely that the mareverlag\u2019s target market will continue to grow. The average age of mare readers is given as 51<\/a>. That seems very plausible to me. Looking at the demographic development<\/a> in this country, the number of mare readers will likely shrink in the medium term. And the medium of the book itself is already struggling. I am certain that the new mare cooperative will be very successful in acquiring members. Since the readership is relatively affluent, I can easily imagine that more members will join and more shares will be issued than at the B\u00fcchergilde. With a solid capital base, the publisher\u2019s stability is ensured \u2014 and I am quite confident that this is what will happen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"Niemandsland<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

From my perspective, the shift toward a cooperative is a very positive sign and a very smart decision. Selling to one of the large centralized publishing groups would almost certainly have led to a significant streamlining of the publishing program \u2014 or at least to strong influence and restructuring of the portfolio. Continuing as a private company would also have been risky, because then everything depends on one person or eventually on their heirs. (If you want to know how risky that can be, I recommend reading Buddenbrooks<\/em>.) A cooperative ensures that the business continues on stable footing. And Nikolaus Gelpke deserves great credit for not trying to extract as much capital as possible for himself. That is certainly not something to be taken for granted and shows the deep love he must feel for his life\u2019s work \u2014 something you can see immediately in the books.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Also interesting in this context is the interview with Judith Weber on Deutschlandfunk<\/a>. There she reveals that the cooperative gained 200 supporting members within the first week. The transition to a cooperative had been planned by Nikolaus Gelpke for some time, and I agree with her that it is very wise to carry out such a change from a position of stability rather than later from a precarious situation. It also seems that Nikolaus Gelpke wishes to withdraw from day\u2011to\u2011day operations. I also find Judith\u2019s remark very striking that one must be willing to \u201cafford\u201d good journalism. That already hints at the realization within publishing houses of the profound transformation the book market is undergoing and how difficult the business has become.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I look very positively toward the future of the mareverlag. And I find this step wonderful, because it also gives me the opportunity to support my favorite publisher and, even if only in a very small way, to become a tiny part of this project. With that in mind, I look forward to many more beautiful books and a hopefully never\u2011ending stream of carefully selected, charming classics.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You can find further information about the mare cooperative here<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone browsing through this blog will quickly notice that I present numerous books published by the mareverlag. I love these beautiful, high\u2011quality classics, and these days it\u2019s rare to find books produced with such care. The mareverlag has remained true to this standard for many years, and as a result, I now have a lovely … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “mare is now a cooperative”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"mare ist jetzt eine Genossenschaft - lesestunden","description":"Wer durch diesen Blog st\u00f6bert , wird feststellen, dass ich hier zahlreiche B\u00fccher vom mareverlag vorstelle. Ich liebe diese wundersch\u00f6nen und hochwertigen Klass"},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[16],"tags":[870,200],"class_list":["post-11443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-market-publishers","tag-genossenschaft","tag-mare"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/mare.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11443"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11468,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11443\/revisions\/11468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}