C.H. Beck

Established in 1763, C.H.BECK is one of the most traditional names among German publishing companies. With more than 7,000 available titles, with about 70 professional journals and an annual production of up to 1,500 books, the company also ranks in the top tier in terms of quantity. The publishing activities are generally divided into two domains: The Law - Taxes - Economics branch under the direction of Dr. Hans Dieter Beck and the Literature - Nonfiction - Science branch under the direction of Dr. h.c. Wolfgang Beck.

In its law publishing division C.H.BECK supports practically all forms of publica-tions in all fields of law, such as large multi-volume works for specialists as well as modestly priced brochures for a wide audience. In the first half of the 20th century, the release of the consolidated statutes collections Sartorius (1903) and Schönfelder (1931), the Palandt commentary of the Civil Code (1st edition 1938) and the weekly review Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (since 1947) established a body of standard works that continues to shape the company’s public image until today. Ever since then, a special emphasis has been put on the practical aspects of the legal professions, especially with commentaries and reference books. In 1989, the company got started in electronic publications and produced its first legal database on CD-ROM, while in 2001 a comprehensive online database named beck-online has been launched, which shapes the business development today.

Besides being a publishing brand, C.H.BECK is a group of companies with a total of around 2,000 employees. More than 600 of them work at the headquarters in Munich and its branch office in Frankfurt. The former headquarters location in the small medieval town Nördlingen is now home to a large modern printing house (Beck’sche Druckerei). Further members of the Beck Group are Schweitzer Fachinformationen, a chain of specialized bookshops in 20 German cities, Franz Vahlen Publishers in Munich, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft in Baden-Baden, Kommunal- und Schul-Verlag in Wiesbaden and – under the roof of beck-akademie – several providers of professional trainings. Finally, C.H.BECK is a partner in Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag (dtv), where Beck'sche Gesetzestexte (compilations of law texts) are published in inexpensive paperback editions.

International activities began in 1993, when C.H.BECK founded small offices in Warsaw and Prague, which now rank among the leading law publishers in their countries. A few years later C.H.BECK acquired the Swiss publishing company Helbing & Lichtenhahn Verlag in Basel and a majority stake in a small Romanian law publisher. In 2011, another branch office in Bratislava was opened.
Web www.beck.de