Orell Füssli

Orell Füssli is a Swiss banknotes printing and bookselling company, established by Christoph Froschauer in 1519 as a book printer and publisher. It is currently operating in many print-related segments, such as security printing, bookselling and publishing, with security printing being a primary contemporary product of company. Company's shares are traded on SIX Swiss Exchange () since 1897. It is the oldest continuously publicly traded company of Switzerland.

History

From Froschauer Druckerei (1519) to "Orell, Gessner, Füssli & Cie." (1770)

At the beginning of the 16th century, the Imperial free city of Zürich became increasingly important as a location holding the Federal Diet of Switzerland. After the position of the ''Leutpriestertum'' (people's priest) of the Grossmünster at Zürich became vacant in late 1518, the canons of the foundation in charge of the Grossmünster elected Ulrich Zwingli to become the stipendiary priest and on 27 December 1519 he moved permanently to Zürich from where he subsequently initiated the Swiss Reformation.

Around the same time, book printer Christoph Froschauer relocated from Altötting in Bavaria to Zürich to be granted the rights of citizen of Zürich in 1519. The city commissioned him with the task of setting up a printing press along with further assignments that would result in the establishment and expansion of the printers. Froschauersche Druckerei received the status of a state printer and ultimately published the works of Erasmus von Rotterdam, Martin Luther and Zwingli. Subsequently, Froschauer Druckerei expanded its product range to include historical, medical and scientific writings.

From 1530 to 1585, the Druckerei emerged as one of the most prominent publishers in the German-speaking field and in the years to follow, the business would change owners within the Zürich wealthy elite. Among the families involved were Escher, Wolf, Bodmer, Heidegger and Rahn with the Druckerei also changing its name after being acquired by one family from another.

In consequence of the progress of Counter-Reformation in Germany, the Druckerei was to scale down its product range to offer mainly theological writings and ''Sittenmandate''. It is not until 1744, as the Zürich Ratsherr Johann Rudolf Füssli joined the company as a partner and shifted the focus to the areas of theology, natural sciences, history and arts. In 1766, he becomes the sole owner of the business which from then on is referred to as "Füssli & Cie.".

Hans Conrad von Orelli and his uncle Johann Jakob Bodmer run "Orell & Cie.", a publishing house with a Druckerei. The Gessner family who also operated a Druckerei since 1670 and later a bookshop joined "Orell & Cie." in 1761. Consequently, the business was renamed to "Orell, Gessner & Cie."

In 1770, both businesses - "Füssli & Cie." and "Orell, Gessner & Cie." - merged to become "Orell, Gessner, Füssli & Cie."

In 1780 the company expanded its product range by entering into the newspaper business with the publication of the "Zürcher Zeitung" that was to become ''"Neue Zürcher Zeitung"'' in 1821.
Almost 90 years upon expansion, the newspaper business was spun off in form of a separate Aktiengesellschaft in 1868.

At the end of the 18th century, it was notable for its bookshop in Zürich. It specialized in disseminating literature of the French Enlightenment by means of written orders through the publishing house '' Société typographique de Neuchâtel'' (STN), which was known to print banned books.

From 1793 to 1794, Orell Füssli published Marianne Ehrmann's ''Die Einsiedlerinn aus den Alpen'', the first magazine published by a woman in Switzerland.

19th century

Upon the end of Napoleonic Wars, the appeal of Zürich as a publishing location sharply diminished.
As the competitive pressure increases on the market in Germany, the publishing program moves back to Switzerland related topics and the focus of the business shifts to printing.

The evidence for the first printing of securities dates back to 1827 and the first share certificates for Escher Wyss are printed in 1839.
In line with the developments of industrialisation in Switzerland, Orell Füssli becomes one of the first printers to introduce high-speed newsprint press and would use it in production of NZZ which from 1843 on is published daily.

On 1 March 1843, the canton of Zürich released the Zürich 4 and 6 printed by Orell Füssli, the first postage stamps in Switzerland, and the second series worldwide, following the Penny Black issued in the UK in 1840.
Upon the adoption of the Swiss Federal Constitution in 1848, the prerogative for operating postal services passes to the federal government in 1849 and the company did not further pursue this line of business.

The second half of the century provides Orell Füssli with enormous growth opportunities.

Switzerland's first advertisement office (''"Annoncenbüro"'') is established which would subsequently turn into ofa Orell Füssli Werbe AG.
Railway advertising starts at a large scale requiring posters of all kinds alongside the emergence of tourist information offices who are looking for
mass-printed travel brochures and timetables. Orell Füssli is able to accommodate for these demands.
Upon introduction of the 10-colour Photochrom process for colour reproductions in 1880, Orell Füssli further expanded its range of product offerings to include reproductions of all kinds and, in particular, series of maps of foreign territories. In quick succession, the company opens numerous branches on the European continent and in the USA.

On 15 February 1870, the ''"bank of the citizens of Zürich"'', Zürcher Kantonalbank founded by the canton of Zürich, opened its first bank counter.
The mandate to print banknotes is assigned to Orell Füssli and the company begins to specialise in this field.

The year 1890 marked the birth of today's modern company, which was transformed into the public limited company Art. Institut Orell Füssli. One year earlier the advertising agency founded in the middle of the 19th century had already been transformed into a public limited company, which latterly traded under the name ofa Orell Füssli Werbe AG and was sold to Publigroupe in 1998.

The foundation of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) in 1907 signalled the introduction of a uniform currency system with banknotes throughout Switzerland. In 1909, Orell Füssli printed banknotes based on Swiss designs for the SNB on a trial basis for the first time. Individual denominations of OF were printed from the second series introduced by the SNB in 1911.

Orell Füssli moved from the city centre to the Wiedikon district, which was incorporated in 1893, in 1923 due to lack of space. The inconspicuous building complex at Dietzingerstrasse 3 in the immediate vicinity of the old village centre has been the company's headquarters ever since. With the move, the printing press equipment was upgraded, which led to the introduction of inline intaglio printing process on a broad front and determined everyday printing for decades. The publishing business was given its own independent market presence as Orell Füssli Verlag as early as 1925, and the name was immediately adopted as the company name in 1999 during the reorganisation and spin-off.

In 1974 the company changed its name to Orell Füssli Graphische Betriebe AG (ofgb). Around the same time, with the design of the sixth banknote series, which was introduced by the SNB in 1976, the ofgb security printing department became the sole printer for all Swiss banknotes.

The 1990s were characterised by upheaval, and a radical restructuring was carried out in 1992: the commercial printing plant was sold to Zürichsee Medien, Orell Füssli Kartographie became largely independent, while the banknote printing plant was further upgraded. Orell Füssli Buchhandlungs AG was founded with the German book retailer Heinrich Hugendubel (Buchhandlung zum Elsässer) as a minority shareholder. This effectively created the present-day company in terms of its portfolio (publishing, book retailing, security printing).

Orell Füssli Buchhandlungs AG (51% OF, 49% Elsässer) moved into the prestigious Kramhof property at Füsslistrasse 4 and opened Switzerland's largest bookshop there in 1993, which has been associated with the name Orell Füssli in Zurich ever since and is often confused with the company's headquarters. The revitalised book retailing under the OF name was followed in 1996 by the launch of online book retailing under the domain books.ch.

ofa Orell Füssli Werbe AG was spun off as early as 1889 and taken over in 1998 by Lausanne-based Publigroupe, which merged the assets with its own companies, such as Publicis, thus removing the names ofa and Orell Füssli from the advertising market. A new group structure was created as part of a further reorganisation in 1999. Orell Füssli Graphische Betriebe Ltd. became Orell Füssli Holding Ltd. and the core operations of Graphische Betriebe - publishing (ofv) and security printing (ofs) - were spun off into independent subsidiaries under the holding company umbrella.

Teledata Ltd, in which Orell Füssli already held an interest, was acquired in its entirety in 2001 and renamed Orell Füssli Wirtschaftsinformationen Ltd in 2003. On 1 July 2008 Orell Füssli Wirtschaftsinformationen Ltd. was wholly acquired by the Axon Active Ltd. group based in Lucerne. However, the name Orell Füssli Wirtschaftsinformationen AG was retained. In 2014 the company was acquired by the risk management solutions provider CRIF.

In July 2002 Orell Füssli acquired a 76% majority interest in the Atlantic Zeiser Group Ltd, which is based in Emmingen-Liptingen (Germany) and had subsidiaries in France, Italy, Spain, the UK and the USA. The acquisition expands the repertoire ofs on the one hand and offers it the opportunity to market its expertise worldwide on the other. The complete takeover of the company was finalised at the beginning of November 2005.

Atlantic Zeiser Group AG was active in the telephone and credit card business, passport systems and numbering boxes. With the advent of mobile phones and the decline of telephone cards, Atlantic Zeiser Group AG entered an economic crisis. In 2018 the card business was sold to Coesia (IT), while the business with components for the security printing industry remained within Orell Füssli Holding as Zeiser.

In 2020, Orell Füssli Holding merged with its subsidiaries Orell Füssli Security Printing Ltd and Orell Füssli Dienstleistungs Ltd and has since traded as Orell Füssli Ltd.

In 2020, Orell Füssli Ltd acquired a stake in the technology company Procivis, followed by the majority takeover in 2021.

In 2022, Orell Füssli Ltd acquired hep Verlag AG, a Swiss publisher of textbooks and reference books based in Berne.

References and notes

References

External links

Company websiteOrell Füssli Security Printing

{{DEFAULTSORT:Orell Fussli
Culture of Zurich
Companies based in Zurich
Economic history of Switzerland
Swiss brands
Security printing
Banknote printing companies
Retail companies of Switzerland
Book publishing companies of Switzerland
Multinational companies headquartered in Switzerland
Companies listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange