By Siobhan O’Leary

Book sales for the month of August showed a slight decline over the same period last year, according to Buchreport. Sales at German retail bookshops declined by 1.9% this year over August 2008 despite the traditional back-to-school boost that August brings. However, sales for the first eight months of the year are still up 1.6% over last year.

Add another name to the list of publishers relocating to Berlin. Aufbau Verlag’s majority shareholder Matthias Koch has acquired an interest in Heidelberg publisher Edition Braus, which will change its name to Edition Braus Berlin Heidelberg GmbH, according to Buchreport. Braus, which specializes in art, photography and lifestyle books, will still have a presence in Heidelberg but move its headquarters to the Kreuzberg section of Berlin in February 2011 — the same building into which Aufbau relocated earlier this year.