Fool Francke Attempto Verlag

What Fool Francke Attempto Verlag does

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG is a privately held, family-controlled German academic publisher headquartered in Tübingen, founded in 1969 and operating under the umbrella brands Narr Francke Attempto, UVK, and expert. The company publishes peer-reviewed journals, scholarly monographs, and textbooks across linguistics, literature, theology, economics, technology, tourism, tribology, and project management, with a presence in German-speaking academic markets stretching back to at least 1949 through the journal 'Internationales Verkehrswesen'. Its co-publishing relationships with academic societies such as GPM Deutsche Gesellschaft für Projektmanagement (with Swiss and Austrian affiliates) and Technische Akademie Esslingen anchor recurring journal subscription and conference proceedings revenue.

The publisher operates a Magento Commerce-based e-commerce platform (narr.de) that serves as the primary direct-to-consumer storefront, distributing print books, eBooks in accessible ePub and PDF/UA-compliant ePDF formats, and access to subscription journals through an eLibrary that guarantees 97.5% monthly uptime. Physical fulfillment is outsourced to Brockhaus Commission in Kornwestheim, with free shipping within Germany, €5.40 to EU and Switzerland, and €18 to other international destinations. Digital products are delivered immediately post-purchase. The company has invested in EU European Accessibility Act compliance, producing most new eBooks as barrier-free accessible ePubs with text-to-speech, MathML, ARIA attributes, and soft DRM that preserves assistive technology compatibility.

The business model combines one-time physical and digital book sales, annual journal subscriptions billed at list price plus shipping, and rights and licensing revenue. Book prices are fixed under the German Buchpreisbindungsgesetz, removing discount-based competition. Customer segments are intentionally horizontal: academics, university lecturers, students, libraries, and practitioners in technical fields. The company is managed by Sonja Narr, Robert Narr, and Gunter Narr as Geschäftsführer, with no external investors, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity disclosed.

Name

Fool Francke Attempto Verlag

Legal name

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag GmbH + Co. KG

Website

https://narr.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag is a family-controlled German academic publisher in Tübingen producing peer-reviewed journals, monographs, and textbooks across linguistics, literature, theology, economics, technology, and tourism for universities, libraries, researchers, and students in German-speaking markets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Scholarly Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Research Monographs & University Press Publishing (MPAJABAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed) (MPAJABAC), Humanities & Arts Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAE), Higher Education Textbook Publishing (MPAJABAB)

Keywords

• Scholarly publishing
• Academic books
• Scientific journals
• Humanities research
• ELibrary services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tübingen

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Physical Book Sales: Sale of printed academic books and journals through the company's e-commerce platform and distribution partners. Prices are fixed according to German book price binding law (Preisbindungsgesetz). Physical products are shipped via Brockhaus Commission, with free shipping within Germany and fees for international destinations.
2. eBook and ePub Sales: Digital publication sales including eBooks and e-journal articles in PDF and ePub formats. Digital products are delivered immediately after purchase and can be downloaded multiple times within 5 days.
3. Journal Subscriptions: Recurring subscriptions for academic journals with online archive access. Subscriptions include delivery of physical issues and/or digital access to journal archives, billed at list prices plus shipping.
4. Licensing and Rights: The company handles rights and licensing for published works, including permissions for reproduction and distribution of content.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag is an academic publisher producing scholarly print books, digital eBooks (ePub and ePDF formats), and peer-reviewed scientific journals across linguistics, literary studies, humanities, and social sciences. The company also provides an institutional eLibrary and Online Archive that delivers bundled digital access to university and research libraries, complemented by direct retail to individual academics and students.

Product overview

Narr Francke Attempto Verlag is an academic publisher operating under the umbrella brands Narr Francke Attempto, UVK, and expert. The company offers a portfolio of print books, eBooks in ePub and ePDF formats, and academic journals across disciplines including linguistics, literature, economics, technology, transportation, tourism, and tribology. Digital products are delivered through the eLibrary platform, which provides access to eJournals and online archives with subscription access. The publisher also maintains a physical bookselling operation through its Magento-based webshop.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Print Scholarly Books
• eBooks (ePub and ePDF)
• Academic Journals
• eLibrary Institutional Subscription
• Online Archive

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Brockhaus CommissioncoreOthersBrockhaus Kommissionsgeschäft GmbH handles fulfillment and shipping for physical book orders from their facility in Kornwestheim, Germany. The partnership enables efficient distribution logistics for the publisher's physical products.
• GPM Deutsche Gesellschaft für ProjektmanagementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-publishing partnership for the journal 'PROJEKTMANAGEMENT AKTUELL' (PM-AKTUELL), one of the leading project management publications in the German-speaking world, with involvement from Swiss (spm) and Austrian (pma) project management associations.
• DataCo GmbHminorOthersData protection officer provider located in Munich, ensuring GDPR compliance for the company's data processing operations.
• Technische Akademie Esslingen e.V.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-publishing partnership for the biennial bridge engineering colloquium (Brückenkolloquium), producing conference proceedings andTagungshandbuch for bridge assessment, repair, and construction topics.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Springer Nature: Global academic publishing giant with extensive humanities, social science, and applied science journals and books. Overlaps with Narr Francke Attempto in subject matter but operates at incomparable scale.
• De Gruyter: Large Berlin-based academic publisher with extensive humanities, linguistics, and STM journal portfolio. Comparable output category but at vastly larger scale and with broader geographic reach.
• Cambridge University Press: University press with significant humanities, linguistics, and area studies journal and monograph publishing. Comparable in scholarly output category and library/institution customer base, though larger and globally focused.
• Brill: Leiden-based academic publisher with strong humanities and social sciences journal and book programs. Overlaps with Narr Francke Attempto on linguistics, literature, and area studies, but operates globally at much greater scale.

Direct peers

• Böhlau Verlag: Vienna/Cologne-based academic publisher specializing in history, cultural studies, and humanities. Directly comparable as a German-language scholarly monograph and journal house serving university libraries and researchers.
• Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: German academic publisher based in Göttingen with a deep humanities and theology catalog. Strongly comparable to Narr Francke Attempto in scholarly monograph focus, German-language academic market positioning, and society journal partnerships.
• Peter Lang Verlag: Bern-based academic publisher with a large humanities and social sciences monograph program. Comparable in scale, catalog breadth across linguistics and literature, and institutional library sales motion.
• Universitätsverlag Winter: Heidelberg academic publisher focused on Germanic and Anglo-American literary studies, linguistics, and classical philology. Closely matches Narr Francke Attempto's philology and linguistics specialization in the German academic market.
• Georg Olms Verlag: Hildesheim-based scholarly publisher with strengths in philosophy, linguistics, and humanities reprints. Comparable as a mid-sized German-language academic house serving libraries and researchers.
• Wilhelm Fink Verlag: Paderborn-based academic publisher (now part of Brill Deutschland) with strong humanities and media studies lists. Comparable niche positioning in German-language scholarly monographs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/narr-francke-attempto-verlag

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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