Wbv Media Gmbh & Co. Kg

What Wbv Media Gmbh & Co. Kg does

wbv Media GmbH & Co. KG is a privately held German limited partnership headquartered in Bielefeld, founded in 1864, that operates the academic and professional publishing division wbv Publikation. Its core function is scholarly publishing across humanities, social sciences, education, and public administration law, serving academic researchers, educators, libraries, vocational training institutions, and municipal public administration offices in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).

The company's product platform combines over 20 specialized academic journals (including 'berufsbildung', 'blind-sehbehindert', 'die hochschullehre', and 'Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung'), academic books and monographs, the utb Lehrbücher textbook sub-brand, the Berichtshefte vocational training report booklets, and the PASSRECHT digital legal reference database targeting municipal Bürgerämter. Supporting infrastructure includes wbv Open Access for author-facing open publishing and wbv OpenLibrary for institutional library access. Underlying technology consists of an own e-commerce storefront, self-hosted Matomo web analytics, and online database platforms with intelligent search and notepad functionality for legal reference products.

Revenue is generated across five streams: one-time book sales (€4.50–€109.75 per unit), recurring journal subscriptions (~€50/year digital), bulk training material sales with tiered staffel pricing (€6.80–€8.50 per Berichtsheft), annual PASSRECHT database licensing (€379/year digital), and publishing services for academic authors. Go-to-market is sales-led, combining direct e-commerce, German bookstore distribution, library partnerships, and conference presence, with co-publication programs (ATHENA, EUSL, Schneider, VBS) anchoring author and editorial community engagement.

Name

Wbv Media Gmbh & Co. Kg

Legal name

wbv Media GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://wbv.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1864

Operating status

Operating

Short description

wbv Media GmbH & Co. KG operates wbv Publikation, a German academic and professional publisher of books, journals, and legal databases serving researchers, educators, libraries, vocational institutions, and municipal public administration in the DACH region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic and Professional Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (51313), Periodical Publishers (51312), All Other Publishers (513199)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Business, Economics & Management Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAF), Government & Public Policy Publishing (Regulations, Gazettes, Legislative Tracking) (MPAJACAI)

Keywords

• Academic publishing
• Scholarly journals
• Vocational education
• Administrative law databases
• Open access publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Bielefeld

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Book Sales (Print and Digital): Sale of academic publications, textbooks, and specialist books in print and e-book formats across humanities, social sciences, education, and public administration law.
2. Journal Subscriptions: Annual and issue-based subscriptions for academic journals including 'berufsbildung', 'blind-sehbehindert', 'die hochschullehre', and others. Includes print, e-paper, and Open Access options.
3. Training Materials and Forms: Sale of training report books (Berichtshefte) for vocational education, available in loose-leaf format for individual customization.
4. Legal Database Licensing: Annual licenses for PASSRECHT Online legal database with multiple user access points for municipal administration clients.
5. Publishing Services: Editorial and publishing support services for academic authors and editors, including Open Access publication options.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

wbv Media GmbH & Co. KG is an academic and professional publishing house based in Bielefeld, Germany, that publishes scholarly books, peer-reviewed journals, and educational materials across education science, vocational training, social sciences, German studies, and administrative law. The company produces the PASSRECHT online legal reference database for municipal administrations and operates Open Access (E-Publishing) workflows for both book and journal content. Distribution combines a direct online shop, institutional subscriptions, and licensed portal access for public-sector customers.

Product overview

wbv Publikation is a academic and professional publishing house organized as a platform-plus-portfolio model. The core offering consists of scholarly books and monographs across humanities, education, social sciences, and administration law disciplines, complemented by over 20 specialized academic journals including 'berufsbildung', 'blind-sehbehindert', 'die hochschullehre', and 'Zeitschrift für Fremdsprachenforschung'. The utb Lehrbücher textbook sub-brand provides academic teaching materials, while PASSRECHT Digital offers digital legal reference collections for public administration. Supporting services include wbv Open Access for open publishing and wbv OpenLibrary for institutional access. The company operates as a business unit of wbv Media.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• wbv Open Access: Open access publishing division offering authors international visibility for their academic content
• ATHENA bei wbv
• EUSL bei wbv
• Schneider bei wbv
• utb elibrary

Products and services

• Scholarly Books Academic and professional monographs and edited volumes across education science, vocational training, social sciences, German studies, and administrative law, sold to individual readers, libraries, and institutions via the wbv webshop and retail distribution.
• Journal blind – sehbehindert (incl. NF, Beiheft, Special Print) Peer-reviewed journal covering blindness, visual impairment, and inclusion topics, with sub-series (NF, Beiheft, Special Print) targeted at researchers, practitioners, and special-needs educators.
• Journal Berufsbildung Peer-reviewed journal on vocational education and training practice, policy, and research in German-speaking countries.
• Journal Germanistik Peer-reviewed journal covering German-language literary and linguistic studies, distributed to academic libraries and individual subscribers.
• Journal HAW-Nachrichten Journal covering higher-education research and practice at German universities of applied sciences.
• Journal IAQ-Report Working-paper and research-report series on labor, qualification, and social policy produced in cooperation with the IAQ institute.
• Journal für Lehrerinnenbildung (Journal of Teacher Education) Peer-reviewed journal on teacher-education research, curricula, and policy for teacher-training institutions and individual teacher trainees.
• Journal Recht + Praxis Peer-reviewed journal on administrative and practical law for legal practitioners, public administrators, and law libraries.
• Journal Schulmanagement Practitioner journal addressing school leadership, administration, and management for German school principals and education administrators.
• Journal Weiterbildung (Continuing Education) Peer-reviewed journal on adult and continuing education research, practice, and policy.
• Journal ZAU (Zeitschrift für das gesamte Arbeitsrecht und angrenzende Gebiete) Peer-reviewed journal on labor law and adjacent fields, serving legal practitioners, courts, and academic libraries.
• Journal ZBS (Zeitschrift für Bildungsforschung) Peer-reviewed journal on empirical and theoretical education research for education-science faculties and researchers.
• Books on Training Report / Berichtswesen Practical guide book on writing training and continuing-education reports, targeted at vocational trainers and continuing-education administrators.
• PASSRECHT Online Legal Reference Database Online legal reference portal providing curated administrative-law decisions, ordinances, and procedural guidance across all German federal states, licensed to municipal administrations, public authorities, and legal practitioners.
• E-Publishing / Open Access Publishing Services Open Access publishing services enabling authors and institutions to publish scholarly books and journals in digital-first, freely accessible formats under wbv Media's editorial oversight.

Quantifiable outcome

• wbv OpenLibrary program provides enhanced discoverability in library catalogs and specialist databases

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ATHENA bei wbvcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerATHENA is a scientific program area hosted at wbv, with Ingo Rother taking responsibility for the scientific program since summer 2026. The program focuses on academic publishing in partnership with wbv.
• EUSL bei wbvcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEUSL (European University Studies in Labour, Education, and Social Sciences) is published as a program imprint at wbv, including the journal 'berufsbildung' for vocational education research.
• Schneider bei wbvcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchneider is a publishing program imprint at wbv, representing another academic publishing partnership.
• utb elibraryminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCooperation with utb (Uni-Taschenbücher) for distribution of textbook content through the utb elibrary platform, extending reach for utb-Lehrbücher (textbooks).
• Verband für Blinden- und Sehbehindertenpädagogik e. V. (VBS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVBS (Association for Education of the Blind and Visually Impaired) co-publishes the journal 'blind-sehbehindert' with wbv, focusing on inclusive education and accessibility in scientific publishing.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hogrefe Verlag: German academic publisher focused on psychology, education, and social work. Closely comparable to wbv in education and social sciences subject areas, with similar institutional library sales model.
• Nomos Verlag: German legal and social sciences publisher, particularly strong in public law and administrative law. Directly comparable to wbv's PASSRECHT and Verwaltung/und Recht catalog, competing for the same legal professional and academic customers.
• De Gruyter: Major German academic publisher with strong humanities and social sciences catalog. Direct comparable to wbv's scholarly book and journal portfolio, competing for the same author pool and library contracts in German-speaking markets.
• transcript Verlag: Independent German academic publisher focused on social sciences, cultural studies, and theory. Directly comparable to wbv's social sciences book and journal offerings, with similar Open Access orientation.
• Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Historic German academic publisher specializing in humanities, theology, and social sciences. Closely comparable to wbv in catalog scope, German academic focus, and journal portfolio, with similar Open Access initiatives.
• Julius Klinkhardt Verlag: German education and pedagogy publisher with strong teacher training and school pedagogy catalog. Direct peer to wbv's Pädagogik book and journal portfolio, serving similar educator and teacher segments.

Broad incumbents

• Cornelsen Verlag: Major German education publisher with broad school, vocational, and academic textbook catalog. Larger incumbent competing with wbv's utb textbook sub-brand and vocational training materials, particularly Berichtshefte.
• Springer Nature: Global academic publishing giant with German heritage (Springer). Competes with wbv for humanities and social science authors and increasingly in Open Access, though at vastly greater scale and broader subject coverage.
• Beltz Verlag: Established German education and psychology publisher with broader portfolio and larger scale than wbv. Overlaps significantly on educational publishing and teacher professional development but operates at greater scale across multiple formats and audiences.

Others

• utb (Uni-Taschenbücher): Cooperative academic textbook consortium of German-speaking university publishers. Functions as both a partner (via utb elibrary distribution) and a channel for wbv's textbook offerings, representing an important ecosystem relationship in the German academic market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wbv-media

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 →

Frequently asked questions about Wbv Media Gmbh & Co. Kg