Zentralorgan is a 19th-century German term for journals associated with a certain technical field, party or political movement. Later it was reduced to a term for official party papers and journals of socialist and worker parties since the 19th century.
Besides the
Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
, ''Zentralorgan der Zionistischen Vereinigung'' (main newspaper of the
zionist movement
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...
founded by
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...
) or ''Zentralorgan für die gesamte Chirurgie und ihre Grenzgebiete'' (an important medical newspaper dealing with surgery) most famous examples are the ''
Vorwärts
''Vorwärts'' (, "Forward") is a newspaper published by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Founded in 1876, it was the central organ of the SPD for many decades. Following the party's Halle Congress (1891), it was published daily as ...
'', owned by the
SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been the ...
. Within the
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, the daily newspaper
Neues Deutschland
''Neues Deutschland'' (''nd''; en, New Germany, sometimes stylized in lowercase letters) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquartered in Berlin.
For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ...
was ''Zentralorgan'' of
Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
, Zentralorgan of the youth association
Freie Deutsche Jugend
The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany.
The organization was meant ...
was the daily
Junge Welt
''Junge Welt'' (English: ''Young World'', stylized in its logo as ''junge Welt'') is a German daily newspaper, published in Berlin. The jW describes itself as a left-wing and Marxist newspaper. German authorities categorize it as a far-left medi ...
.
Another use of Zentralorgan is found for important journals in certain fields. E.g. the computer magazine
c't
''c't'' – ' (''Magazine for Computer Technology'') is a German computer magazine, published by the Heinz Heise, Heinz Heise publishing house.
file:Ct jubilaeum 30 turm.jpg, The 5.71 meter high tower from the 587 published c't editions up to t ...
was dubbed ''Zentralorgan of
Nerd
A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...
istan'' by a Spiegel article.
25 Jahre "c't", Zentralorgan von Nerdistan
by Frank Patalong, Der SPIEGEL, 31.10.2008,
Another, more derogative use is to describe an important news outlet that suppresses certain opinions in which deviant opinions were unwanted.
An allegiance to a socialist past{{Citation needed, date=February 2010 is as well a fan magazine of Dynamo Dresden
Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...
called ''Zentralorgan''.
Sources
Newspapers published in Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
Socialist newspapers