320-year-old Vienna newspaper Wiener Zeitung shuts print edition; leaves internet dejected

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 1, 2023, 3:28 PM IST

One of the world's oldest newspapers, the Vienna-based Wiener Zeitung, ended its daily print run Friday after more than three centuries. The paper set out to provide a sober account of the news “without any oratory or poetic gloss” when it was launched on August 8, 1703.

A 320-year-old Vienna-based newspaper named "Wiener Zeitung" printed their final edition on Friday. The main cause of the print edition's collapse was the financial hardship brought on by declining sales. On Friday, the newspaper published its farewell front page, which honoured their legacy. On the newspaper's main page, it was written: "116,840 days, 3,839 months, 320 years, 12 presidents, 10 Kaisers, 2 republics, 1 newspaper."

The oldest newspaper in the world - the Wiener Zeitung - has been printed for the last time. This is the final front page pic.twitter.com/M28gHihw7W

— James Jackson (@derJamesJackson)

On August 8, 1703, the newspaper was established with the purpose of disseminating news in a clear manner without the use of flowery language. The newspaper gained reputation for publishing a wide range of articles on local and international news, culture, and business news when it was once known as "Wiennerisches Diarium".

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However, the newspaper started to face financial difficulties because of a recent law change, which removed the need for firms to publish changes to the commercial registry in their print edition. The newspaper was also forced to let go off 63 employees and downsized their editorial staff to 20 members.

Many Twitter users were saddened when they learned that the "Wiener Zeitung" was ending its print publication.

Druck der letzten Ausgabe der . Nach 11 Jahren in der Chefredaktion ist es nun Zeit Abschied von dieser unverzichtbaren Zeitung zu nehmen. Danke an alle Kolleg:innen, Leser:innen und Unterstützer:innen. Es hat mich sehr gefreut. Und schön war‘s auch. pic.twitter.com/GkhpMcSioF

— Thomas Seifert (@thomasseifert)

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Farewell to our friends at and thank you for the outstanding reporting over the last 320 years! pic.twitter.com/ncfW8j6Kox

— U.S. Embassy Vienna (@usembvienna)

Ich möchte der Redaktion der meinen Respekt ausdrücken

Hier kann man sich die - leider - letzte Ausgabe der Zeitung ansehen und man merkt mit wie viel Liebe und Einsatz dieses Blatt bis zuletzt gemacht wurde https://t.co/wo6A1WrzcO pic.twitter.com/IrLOEAapRz

— Ingrid Brodnig (@brodnig)

Eines der allerletzten Exemplare der
Habe zum ersten Mal mit zittrig eine Zeitung zur Hand genommen.
Es ist auch jetzt trotzdem noch immer nicht greifbar, welch kultureller Wert verloren geht, die publizistische Leistung, die fehlen wird.
Ich wünsche dem gesamten… pic.twitter.com/mo4C1RSpOZ

— Lukas Abulesz (@lukas_abulesz)

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