Figures & history

1949 – The German Press Agency (dpa) sends the first news item of the basic service on September 1.

1950 – Capital increase to DM 1.2 million. 752 employees. Turnover DM 11 million.

1956 – An extraordinary shareholders' meeting decides to expand the foreign services.

1957 – The dpa-Europadienst begins transmitting on longwave, the dpa-Überseedienst in English on five shortwave frequencies.

1958 – Instead of sending photos by post, dpa-Bildfunk begins sending them via longwave.

1964 – Serious error: dpa mistakenly reports the death of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

1966 – dpa's foreign network includes correspondents in 75 countries.

1967 – dpa-Basisdienst and dpa-Bildfunk transmit around the clock. Launch of the Arabic dpa service. Spanish service doubles transmission time from six to 12 hours. Expansion of the English service.

1973 – The first generation of an Electronic Computerized News Exchange (ERNA) goes into operation. For the first time, dpa editors edit on screens.

1979 – Introduction of a standardized format for reports. dpa customers can receive and edit reports directly on a computer.

1980 – dpa-Europadienst transmits around the clock.

1981 – dpa establishes its own business editorial department.

1983 – The photo desk introduces electronic image processing.

1984 – Launch of dpa-Select – customers can be supplied in a targeted way, based on an interest profile. Development of the dpa-Nachrichtendatenbank begins.

1985 – Launch of "EPA European Pressphoto Agency B.V.," The Hague/Frankfurt, with dpa participation.

1986 – Launch of dpa-Audiodienst and Hörfunk-Nachrichtendienst (audio and radio news services). Foundation of "gms Global Media Services GmbH" as a dpa subsidiary.

1988 – Acquisition of Globus Kartendienst GmbH. Expansion of the product range to include graphics. End of supply of international news via partners. As a result, dpa's worldwide reporting is carried out exclusively by its own network of correspondents.

1989 – Start of unhindered reporting from East Germany. dpa and "ADN Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst," Berlin agree to cooperate on sales and technology.

1989 – dpa and five other news agencies found "mecom Medien-Communikations-Gesellschaft mbH" for the satellite transport of their news services.

1990 – In February, the "Thüringer Allgemeine," Erfurt, becomes the first newspaper in East Germany to be supplied directly by dpa with the dpa-Basisdienst. By the end of the year, 41 newspapers as well as radio and television groups in eastern Germany are dpa customers. Founding of the wholly-owned subsidiary "dpa-Agenturdienste GmbH," Berlin, for activities in eastern Germany. Establishment of five eastern German dpa regional services with 14 regional offices and a newsroom in Berlin-Mitte.

1991 – 75 percent stake in "Fotoagentur Zentralbild GmbH," Berlin.

1994 – The dpa subsidiary "gms Global Media Services GmbH" buys "news aktuell GmbH." An additional editorial office is established in Washington for the English world news service.

1995 – dpa-Bilderdienst switches completely to database-supported digital production. gms launches the "gms-Themendienst."

1996 – The Hamburg editorial office of the Spanish world news service is relocated to Madrid. It produces the Spanish service together with the existing editorial office in Buenos Aires.

1997 – Test operation of dpa-Online begins. A separate editorial office in Nicosia/Cyprus produces the Arabic dpa world news service. An Asian editorial office for the English world news service is set up in Bangkok. Purchase of the "RUFA Rundfunk-Nachrichtenagentur GmbH." Introduction of dpa-MedienServer (MES), a system for receiving dpa-Bildfunk, dpa-Online, dpa-Grafik, and dpa-Audiodienst. Introduction of "fast broadcasting," which transmits all motifs in colour.

1999 – The editorial offices of the dpa-Basisdienst and the dpa-Europadienst in Hamburg are reorganized, a new department "Vermischtes/Modernes Leben" (Miscellaneous/Modern Life) is introduced.

1999 – Foundation of "dpa-AFX Wirtschaftsnachrichten GmbH" (dpa holds 50 percent of shares).

2000 – Foundation of the subsidiary dpa-infocom. dpa-Bilddatenbank also available on the Internet. Opening of the dpa capital bureau in Berlin.

2002 – Restructuring of the international service in English: The central editorial office is based in Cork (Ireland). Foundation of "dpa Picture-Alliance GmbH" for the distribution of dpa photos and those from other partner agencies.

2003 – In Germany, dpa reorganizes editorial processes in the bureaux in the different federal states – one of the most comprehensive reforms in the agency's history.

2004 – A new pricing model proves to be an important means of retaining customers in the face of the media crisis.

2007 – Launch of the first cross-media and target-group-specific service: "dpa-Nachrichten für Kinder" (dpa News for Kids), which includes texts, images, podcasts and animated graphics.

2010 – dpa opens its new central editorial office in Berlin. For the first time, all central editorial offices work under one roof. Wolfgang Büchner becomes editor-in-chief of dpa, succeeding Wilm Herlyn, who headed the newsroom for a total of 19 years.

2012 – EANA (European Alliance of News Agencies) honours the dpa-News portal with the "Award for Excellence in News Agency Quality." dpa and the US news agency Associated Press (AP) sign a long-term cooperation agreement.

2013 – The new agency service AP Weltnachrichten goes live. dpa launches the dpa-Agenda scheduling and planning service.

2014 – Sven Gösmann becomes dpa's new editor-in-chief.

2015 – dpa initiates the next media accelerator. The company supports start-ups from the media sector with seed funding and expertise.

2016 – dpa-Custom Content, an offering for tailored content, begins operations.

2017 – Peter Kropsch, previously managing director of Austria Presse Agentur (APA), becomes the new dpa CEO. Launch of dpa's new international photo network.

2019 – dpa establishes a new four-person editorial board: Editor-in-chief is Sven Gösmann. Deputy editors-in-chief are Antje Homburger (news), Jutta Steinhoff (network), and Niddal Salah-Eldin (innovation and product).

2019 – The German Press Agency celebrates its 70th anniversary. In his speech to mark the occasion, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier emphasizes the importance of dpa for the success of democracy in Germany.

2020 – dpa acquires the video news agency TeleNewsNetwork (TNN) and expands its video content offering. As part of the long-term #UseTheNews project, the agency is committed to promoting news literacy among young people.

2021 – Silke Brüggemeier becomes deputy editor-in-chief. As the head of the Bild division, she is responsible for the photo and video sections.

2022 – The European Newsroom (enr), a joint project of 18 European news agencies, is launched in Brussels. dpa is the lead agency. Publishing customers are offered dpa-Themenwelten to attract additional digital subscriptions. The move of the central editorial office to a new newsroom - also in Berlin - is being prepared.