Unveiling Notable Literary Achievements in Weimar
A Journey Through Time: The Historic Panse-Verlag Printing Office in Weimar
The city of Weimar, Germany, is home to a remarkable piece of cultural and technological history – the Panse-Verlag printing office. Established in 1848, this publishing company played a significant role in newspaper publishing, with its roots dating back to 1734.
The Panse-Verlag's headquarters were located at Scherfgasse 3, a site that has been meticulously documented since 1863. In 1908, the company moved its production facilities to Scherfgasse 5, a move that was followed by several expansions. The machine hall was enlarged in 1887 and again in 1906, with the latter expansion including the lower part of the passage to the pavilion.
The old passage between houses 3 and 5 was converted into a machine room and received a glass roof facing the courtyard in 1908. This transformation not only modernised the production process but also marked a significant moment in the history of the Panse-Verlag. It is said that Goethe, the renowned German poet, first met Charlotte von Stein in the expanded machine hall in 1906.
The Panse-Verlag's publishing activities were not limited to the printing press. The company published numerous newspapers, including the first, "The Revolution," in 1849. Up to 200,000 newspapers per night were printed by the descendants of the founder at Scherfgasse.
The Scherfgasse building is of particular significance due to its role in printing books and newspapers. An exhibition titled "Through the Newspaper," curated by Herbert Schachtschabel, commemorates 260 years of newspaper history in the former typesetting hall of the Panse-Verlag. Schachtschabel, a historian with a focus on the Thuringian website, has documented newspaper history in Weimar.
The roof of the pavilion at Scherfgasse is the only remaining part of the garden that once stood there. Most of the garden has been built over, leaving only this relic of the past. The Palais Schardt, significant for being the birthplace of Charlotte von Stern, also has an interesting history since Karl Panse acquired it.
The workspace of an editor in this historic printing office would have been a sturdy wooden desk equipped with essential tools for editing and layout before digital technology. It would have included paperwork, typewriters, writing instruments, ink bottles, proofreading marks, and a mounted reading lamp. The workspace would have been close to incoming copy from reporters and the printing machinery to facilitate quick editorial adjustments and typesetting coordination.
While no direct imagery or explicit description of a Panse-Verlag editor’s desk has been found, the general historical context about 19th-century newspaper practices indicates these characteristics. The editor's desk would have been designed for practical utility, often sizable to hold stacks of news copy, proofs, and headline type, and would have included ledges or trays to organize paper and writing tools.
The setting of the Panse-Verlag would be comparable to those described for similar European newspaper offices of that era, which shared similar editorial tools and workflows driven by manual typesetting and report submission processes common before widespread telephone and telegraph use revolutionized news transmission.
[1] Historically accurate information about the Panse-Verlag editor’s desk can be found in various historical literature on newspaper production.
The transformation of the old passage at Scherfgasse 3 into a machine room in 1908 not only modernized the production process but also created a workspace for editors, marking a significant moment in the lifestyle and home-and-garden design of the Panse-Verlag.Historically accurate information about the tools and design of an editor's desk at the Panse-Verlag can be found in various home-and-garden and historical literature on newspaper production.
