Plaque for the newspaper “Memeler Dampfboot”

On October 4, 2019, on the initiative of Uwe Jurgsties, an honorary citizen of the city of Klaipėda, the oldest Klaipėda regional newspaper “Memeler Dampfboot” published in Germany was commemorated in the city. On the house at 1  Herkus Mantas Street, a commemorative plaque was unveiled, with an embossed emblem (an inscription with a ship, as on the front page of a newspaper) and an indication that the company ‘Siebert’ founded and printed a newspaper here in 1849. The publishing house of the newspaper “Memeler Dampfboot” operated in this building until 1944.

The first issue of the newspaper “Memeler Dampfboot” was published by August Hermann Stobbe in 1849. Quite soon, alongside political news, local information, as well as art and theater review columns appeared in the newspaper. Since 1872, after Friedrich Wilhelm Siebert bought the printing house, the ‘Memeler Dampfboot’ became a daily newspaper. In 1895, the editorial office had the first direct connection with Berlin. In October of 1900, the “Memeler Dampfboot” printing house purchased a rotary printing machine of the world-famous “Koenig & Bauer” company – it was the first such machine in Klaipėda.

The ‘Memeler Dampfboot’ printing house published not only the newspaper, but also various supplements for women, farmers, children; as well as on sports or religious themes. One of them, ‘Die Gegenwart’ [The Present], was devoted to art, literature and science.

The “Memeler Dampfboot” printing house was the most modern in Klaipėda region between the wars, and the only one that printed stamps, blanks and produced seals. It printed other newspapers too: the ‘Memeler Kreisblatt’ and the ‘Lietuwiszka Ceitunga’. The printing house also printed books. In 1929, the book ‘Jüdische Provinzbilder aus Litauen. Zwanzig [20] lustige Ausschnitte aus dem jüdischen Provinzleben in Litauen’ (‘Views of Jewish life in the province of Lithuania. Twenty (20) funny excerpts from the life of Jews in the province of Lithuania’) by the Jewish author Jakob Simon (real name Joske Burstein) were published.

Due to the changed political situation in 1923-1938, the newspaper was censored. Since 1939, after the annexation of Klaipėda region to Germany, the newspaper faced another – Reich censorship, propaganda and instructions for the press.

In 1945, publication of the ‘Memeler Dampfboot’ ceased in East Prussia, and was resumed in 1948 in then West Germany. In 1972, exactly 100 years since the publishing house was purchased by F.W. Siebert’s ancestors, the printing house was sold (with the condition that the ‘Memeler Dampfboot’ must continue to be printed) and the publishing house remained the property of W. Siebert. After his death in 1983 the publishing rights were transferred to the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Memellandkreise e.V.” (AdM) society. Currently, the newspaper is published on the 20th of every month with a circulation of 3,000 copies. The commemorative plaque was unveiled by the working group of the Klaipėda region (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Memellandkreise).