The ghost that became the post office

In addition to 125 years of automobile manufacturing, Opel is celebrating another anniversary in 2024. The employee magazine "Opel Post" was published for the first time 75 years ago, making it one of the most traditional publications in German industry. And has constantly evolved over the decades.

Initially published in magazine format from 1949, it switched to a larger newspaper format in 1981. In 1993, the Hauspostille celebrated its premiere in color, then returned to magazine format in 2005. And since 2013, it has no longer been available as a traditional print product, but as a modern web magazine on the Internet. "Not many companies can boast a magazine that continuously keeps employees up to date with news from their own company over such a long period of time," says Editor-in-Chief Mark Bennett from the company's communications department.

Even before the "Opel Post", the company had a company newspaper. The "Opel Geist" first appeared in April 1930, followed by the "Opel Kamerad" from 1936 to 1944, which functioned primarily as a propaganda tool during these years.

The "Opel Post", which still exists today, was born in 1949, ushering in a new mentality that suited the new, democratic Germany and the newly formed automobile manufacturer. The cooperation between management and workforce was to form the core of the articles. The new newspaper "can and will do much to promote this cooperation and the necessary spirit of mutual trust", announced Edward Zdunek, Chairman of the Board of Management at the time, in the first issue.

Democracy and co-determination were the top priority - this was already evident in the second issue, in which those responsible held a competition and asked the workforce to suggest a title for the new publication. The name "Opel Post" was only provisional; the final title was to be chosen by the employees. In the end, a jury chose the suggestion "Unterm Opel-Turm" as the winner. At the same time, however, the majority of submissions clearly indicated a desire to retain the name "Opel Post" - and that is still the name of the employee magazine today.

"It's hard to please everyone," said Karl Heinz Mai, the first editor-in-chief of the in-house magazine, who was still called editor-in-chief at the time, in the first issue. But openness and the ability to take criticism were among the strengths of the new publication. And so, even in 1954, the unusual presentation of the annual report in the "Opel Post" was a talking point on the production line and in the offices. What's more, according to editor-in-chief Mai, it quickly developed "from a modest newsletter to a comprehensive magazine that attracted public attention and was often quoted in the press and trade journals".

From the very beginning, the focus of many articles was not only on people and their projects - from the very first years, the editorial team also used recurring surveys to gain an overview of the opinions of its readers. These opinion polls repeatedly confirmed that around two thirds of all employees were completely satisfied with their company newspaper, with the remainder only expressing criticism of details, which the editorial team often took on board as suggestions. This also included reactions to the changing appearance of the employee magazine over the decades.

In 1949, the "Opel Post" was launched in journal format, with full-format covers on which the "Opel Post" lettering was gradually joined by other letters. Over the years, the brand-typical yellow was used increasingly sparingly. From 1981, the in-house gazette was presented in newspaper format. In the 1990s, things became more colorful: in 1993, color photos made their way onto the pages. This was followed by several revisions to the layout, and the "Opel Post" lettering, flash, number of columns and fonts were repeatedly refreshed. 2005 saw a return to the magazine format

The next major change came in 2013, when the "Opel Post" moved into the digital age and has since been a continuously updated web magazine and, as "Opel Post online", bilingual (German and English) and available anywhere in the world at any time. In 2021, the web design was adapted again to make the range of texts, photos and videos even easier to use, for smartphones and tablets as well as on large displays.

The main topics are still information about the company, plus portraits of employees, dealers, tuners and brand fans with their dream cars. And what was never possible in print is now standard: as an additional service that goes beyond reading, users can take advantage of a wide range of downloads, from design sketches, painting and craft templates for children to desktop motifs for the PC. (aum)