By Ingrid Süßmann

At the end of March, Penguin Random House Germany announced the formation of a new imprint: Penguin Verlag. Led by Thomas Rathnow, publisher and one of the managing directors of Random House Germany, this new press will publish both fiction and non-fiction with the focus on original editions and German-language first editions, as well as paperback editions of titles previously published in other Random House imprints including C. Bertelsmann, DVA, Siedler and others. One of the first titles will be the paperback edition of Swedish author Jonas Jonasson’s second bestseller, The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden.

“Verlagsgruppe Random House is an author-centered and author-driven company, but we also believe in powerful publishing brands. Therefore, I am thrilled for us to launch Penguin Verlag next year, a brand name that represents worldwide the convergence of high quality and popular commercial success like no other,” said Rathnow.

Rathnow has been working for Random House since 2004, and he became a member of the managing board in 2014. He is responsible for several of Random House’s imprints, such as carl’s books, C. Bertelsmann, Prestel, Knaus, the audio departments Der Hörverlag and Random House Audio.

Even though Random House Germany was not part of the merger between Penguin and Random House last year and doesn’t belong to the recently formed Penguin Random House, it still worked together closely with the international colleagues to bring Penguin Verlag to Germany. Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House and member of the board for Bertelsmann, said: “I am thrilled that our merger of Penguin Random House enables us to bring the renowned Penguin brand to Germany. Our colleagues in Munich will create an outstanding publishing program with the Penguin editorial standards.”