Hamburger Morgenpost

The Hamburger Morgenpost (Hamburg Morning Post) (also known as Mopo) is a daily German newspaper published in Hamburg in tabloid format.

As of 2006 the Hamburger Morgenpost was the second-largest newspaper in Hamburg after Bild Zeitung.

History and profile
The Hamburger Morgenpost was founded in 1949 by the Hamburg section of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with a circulation of 6,000 copies. Until the late 1950s, the circulation increased to 450,000 copies. When Bild Zeitung was brought out by the Axel Springer publishing house as a second tabloid serving Hamburg, the circulation of the Hamburger Morgenpost declined steadily. Due to the existing competition with other newspapers, such as the 1948 re-founded Hamburger Abendblatt, there was a decline in interest in political party-owned newspapers in Hamburg. The SPD sold the newspaper following financial problems in the mid-1970s. After having several owners, the Gruner + Jahr publishing company bought it in 1986. In 1989, its circulation had fallen to 135,000. In 1999, Gruner + Jahr sold the newspaper in to Frank Otto and Hans Barlach. In 2006, the BV Deutsche Zeitungsholding, a company of David Montgomery's Mecom Group and Veronis Suhler Stevenson International, bought the newspaper. In 2009, Mecom Group sold it to the Cologne-based private publishing company DuMont Schauberg.

The circulation of the Hamburger Morgenpost was 115,845 copies in the second quarter of 2009.

Editor-in-chiefs

 * 1985–1986: Nils von der Heyde
 * 1986: Jürgen Juckel
 * 1986–1989: Wolfgang Clement
 * 1989–1992: Ernst Fischer
 * 1992–1994: Wolf Heckmann
 * 1994–1996: Manfred von Thien
 * 1996–1998: Mathias Döpfner
 * 1998–2000: Marion Horn
 * 2000–2006: Josef Depenbrock
 * 2006–2008: Matthias Onken
 * 2008–2020: Frank Niggemeier
 * since 2020: Maik Koltermann

2015 arson


In response to the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo in which 12 people died on 7 January 2015, some international organizations such as Reporters Without Borders called for controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoons to be re-published in solidarity with the French satirical magazine and in defense of free speech. The Hamburger Morgenpost included Charlie Hebdo cartoons on its front cover on January 8 and other publications such as Germany's Berliner Kurier and Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza reprinted cartoons from Charlie Hebdo the day after the attack; the former depicted Muhammad reading Charlie Hebdo whilst bathing in blood. At least three Danish newspapers featured Charlie Hebdo cartoons, and the tabloid BT used a Charlie Hebdo image depicting Muhammad lamenting being loved by "idiots" on its cover.

The newspaper was attacked by an arsonist on 11 January, possibly relating to the cartoons.