HOW TIME FLIES

History

Courage, openness and a focus on the future. Values we associate with our company.

START
1919
Acquisition of a publishing house

On July 14, 1919 Eugen Russ purchased the publishing house Vorarlberger Landeszeitung — predecessor to the Vorarlberger Nachrichten.
Eugen Russ (1877 – 1962) becomes editor of the Vorarlberger Landeszeitung, which until 1919 had been operated by the publisher Müller in Bregenz.

1929
New office in Bregenz

The first years were difficult, but despite economic challenges the capabilities of the print office were expanded one step at a time. The company moved to Kirchstraße in Bregenz where Eugen Russ transformed the former restaurant Gasthaus Rose into a sizeable print office.

1945
First independent issue

NOn November 16, the first issue of the Vorarlberger Nachrichten is published with Eugen Russ as editor-in-chief.

1954
Dual-colour printer

Eugen Russ buys the first dual-colour printer. The very first Eugen-Russ-Fieldtrip for the elderly and the disabled takes place. This annual tradition is still a beloved event today.

1960
Offsetprint facility in Lochau

On September 3rd construction of a new offsetprint facility in Lochau begins.

1962
Eugen Ruß †

Eugen Russ dies. He leaves behind the Vorarlberger Nachrichten — the region’s most influential newspaper. His son DDr. Toni Russ takes over and under his management the Vorarlberger Nachrichten becomes the market leader.

1969
DDr. Toni Russ †

DDR. Toni Russ dies. His wife Rosa Russ succeeds him as publisher. Richard Kempf becomes operations manager and Dr. Franz Ortner is the new editor-in-chief.

1983
Eugen A. Russ CEO

Eugen A. Russ, son of DDr. Toni Russ, becomes managing director of the Vorarlberger Medienhaus Group as well as editor-in-chief of the Vorarlberger Nachrichten.

1984
WANN & WO

Acquisition of weekly paper “Wann & Wo”, published on Thursdays.

1987
Desktop Publishing & infographics

The Vorarlberger Nachrichten is the first daily newspaper to be produced via Desktop Publishing, as well as the first newspaper in Europe to use infographics to illustrate content for readers.

1988
MAN Roland UNIMAN-printing press

The MAN Roland UNIMAN-printing press is put into operation. This results in a shift from letterpress printing to offset printing.

1990
Acquisition of NEUE

Acquisition of NEUE Vorarlberger Tageszeitung. On August 31st 1990 the NEUE, appearing daily from Tuesday to Sunday, was published for the first time in its new layout with a blue masthead.

1992
Computer to Plate

The first Gerber LE55 direct-to-plate imaging system is put into operation. Consequently the Vorarlberger Medienhaus becomes the first media company in the world to put the computer-to-plate technology into daily practice.

1993
The first colour newspaper in the world

In September the assembly of GEOMAN No. 1 printer from MAN Roland with 4 printing towers starts. This printing press is revolutionary: The Vorarlberger Nachrichten is the first end-to-end four-colour newspaper in the world.

1995
VOL.AT

DTeleport Consulting & Systemmanagement GmbH is founded. With Vorarlberg Online, Teleport contributes significantly to the development and distribution of internet access in Vorarlberg. Vol.at becomes the first regional news portal in Austria. One of the most outstanding achievements is that the local portal VOL develops into a mass medium.

1995
Printing plant in Schwarzach

NA new headquarters is constructed next to the printing facility in Schwarzach. The entire company is moved from Bregenz to the new office. The famous architect DI Ernst Giselbrecht designed the building, which fulfills highest aesthetical and functional requirements, thus reflecting the corporate culture: transparency, both internal and external.

1997
Broadband internet over TV cable

TeTeleport joins with cable TV providers to become the first private provider of broadband internet via TV cable in Vorarlberg.

1998
ANTENNE VORARLBERG

AOn the 1st of June, ANTENNE VORARLBERG goes on the air, becoming the first private regional radio station in Vorarlberg.

1998
Inform Media

EuAfter seven years in which had held a stake Eugen A. Russ takes full ownership of the Funk Verlag GmbH in Hungary. As an associate company of the Vorarlberger Medienhaus, Inform Media in Hungary maintains a similar portfolio: daily and weekly newspapers and later online portals.

2000
haon.hu, boon.hu, szon.hu

DaInform Media starts publishing Sunday newspapers in three regions. The first regional news portal www.haon.hu begins operations, followed by www.boon.hu and www.szon.hu.
Wann & Wo adds Wednesdays to its publication days, including the print version of the .com sites. In March, Teleport launches 1036hallo!, a private telephony provider in Vorarlberg.

2001
Bihari Napló, Jurnal Bihorean

Inform Media buys two regional newspapers in Oradea/Romania: Bihari Napló and Jurnal Bihorean.

2003
Expansion in Romania

In Romania further expansions follow: Inform Media GmbH launches the newspaper Jurnal Banatean in Timisoara and acquires two more in Resita (Timpul and Jurnal de Caras-Severin). In Timisorara an offset-printing facility is constructed and begins operations.

2004
onlineapro.hu, bihorjob.ro

In Hungary and Romania, www.onlineapro.hu and the job portal www.bihorjob.ro are launched. In the north-east of Hungary free weekly newspapers (Szuperinfo) were purchased.

2005
Quoka, kontur & WEEK

The glossy magazine WEEK Vorarlberg is published for the first time in 2005. The magazine has an editorial focus on people, lifestyle and trends and is published every two weeks.
Vorarlberger Medienhaus acquires a 100% stake in Germany-based Quoka, a publishing house headquartered in Lampertheim, near Mannheim. At the end of May, Vorarlberger Medienhaus presents the new business and lifestyle magazine “kontur”.

2006
Avis Verlag

Quoka acquires publishing house AVIS, thereby expanding Quoka’s strong classifieds web portal on a national scale. Quoka, Search & Find and “das inserat” work together to found the largest classifieds portal in Germany.

2006
VN is named newspaper of the year by Inform Media & VM Digital

Am On the 7th of June, the company’s flagship newspaper Vorarlberger Nachrichten is awarded “Newspaper of the Year 2006” at the 59th world congress of newspapers in Moscow. Quality journalism, innovation, use of multimedia and economic efficiency are the principle criteria. Further job, real estate and car portals are launched.

2007
VM Digital

At the end of 2007, the Vorarlberger Medienhaus Group launches the wholly owned investment subsidiary “VM Digital” in order to speed up the increase of its online businesses. VM Digital (today Russmedia Digital) is a group of classifieds and special interest websites in Germany. The company additionally invests in minority stakes.

2008
Expansion Inform Media

Inform Media (today Russmedia CEE) expands its portfolio by adding additional national niche portals (garden and animal themes as well as job portals)

2009
Szuperinfó

MiCV Online, the leading job portal in Hungary is bought. Furthermore the Szuperinfó Hungary group is acquired – along with the franchise network of Szuperinfó with 68 newspapers across Hungary.

2010
Apple-iPhone-Reseller

With VOLmobil, the Vorarlberger Medienhaus is the first regional provider of mobile telephony and reseller for the Apple iPhone.

2010
VOL.AT News-Portal-App

VOL is the first german-speaking news portal app for the iPad and is released even before the iPad is officially available in Austria.

2010
Budapest Piac

Inform Media (Russmedia CEE) launches further niche portals and acquires the free weekly magazine Budapest Piac, which has a weekly circulation of 700,000.

2011
The VN on iPad

The Vorarlberger Nachrichten is offered on the iPad for the first time

2011
erento.com

erento.com, the world’s largest online market for rentable goods, is acquired and marks an important step in the growth and internationalisation strategy of the company.

2011
Die Vorarlbergerin

The first edition of the society magazine “Die Vorarlbergerin” appears in September.

2011
HTML5-News App

In October Medienhaus.com (today Russmedia Digital) makes the very first HTML5 news app in the German-speaking world available on iPad.

2012
Premium-KMU-Partner

Russmedia Digital zeichnet sich als Russmedia Digital is recognized as the first sales partner for Google AdWords in Austria and, asa premium SME partner, is part of a unique group of highly qualified companies that have achieved this status.

2012
Vorarlberger Medienhaus becomes Russmedia

Medienhaus becomes Russmedia — the most progressive multi-niche media company in Europe.

2014
Local Media Awards

Russmedia Digital receives four “Local Media Awards” in the United States.

2014
Award for Mobile Strategy

Russmedia Digital wins two awards at the INMA Awards in San Francisco: Second place in the category “Best New Mobile Service” and third place in the category “Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client”.

2014
Interactive West

Successful premier of a new digital media in Dornbirn: The international conference for marketing, technology and innovation “Interactive West”.

2014
Russmedia Digital wins INMA awards

Russmedia wins two awards at the INMA Awards in San Francisco: Second place in the category “Best New Mobile Service” and third place in the category “Best Marketing Solution for an Advertising Client”.

2015
ALPINRESORTS.com

Europes largest independent online ski equipment rental company, ALPINRESORTS.com, brings Russmedia further growth.

2015
Speedinvest

As a cornerstone investor Russmedia invests with SpeedInvest – the largest venture capital company in Austria.

2017
INMA Global Media Award

Russmedia Digital wins the INMA Global Media Award in the category “Best Native Advertising“ – at the World Congress in Harvard Club in New York.

2018
INMA Global Media Award

Russmedia was again awarded five INMA Global Media Awards.

2019
INMA Global Media Award

Russmedia wins again INMA Award in New York.

2020
INMA Global Media Awards

Russmedia wins again INMA Awards.

2020
Russmedia honored as "Great Place to Work

Russmedia was once again voted “Great Place To Work” by its employees.


International

Russmedia employs 1000 employees at 14 locations in Europe. The head office of the Russmedia group is in Schwarzach/Austria.


Excellence-driven

We deliver a top-notch performance every day: VN was the first completely four-colour printed newspaper in the world.


Forward-looking

Russmedia has always chamioned the early implementation of the newest technologies. Here changes aren't feared, but rather seen as opportunities.