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Newspaper Tägliche Omaha Tribüne (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926 Omaha Tribüne

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About Tägliche Omaha Tribüne (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926

The Tägliche Omaha Tribüne (1912-26), or the “Daily Omaha Tribune,” was founded by newspaper-entrepreneur Valentin (Val) Joseph Peter (1875-1960). According to various sources, it was “one of the most widely-circulated and influential German dailies in the country.” Aside from its pronounced pro-German stance, particularly before the United States entered World War I, the Tägliche Omaha Tribüne was largely independent.

When Val Peter was 14 years old, his family left Germany and moved to Rock Island, Illinois, where he soon worked as a reporter for the semiweekly Volkszeitung, or “Peoples’ Newspaper” Within three years, Peter was the city editor of a daily German-language newspaper, the Peoria Sonne, or the “Peoria Sun.” Thanks to a loan from the Sonne‘s publishers, Peter returned to Rock Island to purchase the Volkszeitung, which he continued to edit until its sale in 1909.

In 1907, Peter purchased two Omaha newspapers—the Westliche Presse or “Western Press,” and the Nebraska Tribüne; the two soon merged to form the Nebraska Tribüne und Westliche Presse (1907-09). After moving permanently to Omaha in 1909, Peter published several succeeding titles—the Omaha Tribüne in 1909-12, and later the Tägliche Omaha Tribüne.

Peter became an outspoken member of the Nebraska chapter of the National German-American Alliance and served as its first and only president. During World War I, nativists deeply resented the passionate pro-German position of his editorials. The Tribüne’s newsboys were attacked, advertisers decamped, and Peter and his family were threatened with bodily harm. After America entered the war, Peter moderated his support for the German cause. Later, during World War II, all of his papers were staunchly supportive of the United States.

In spite of high anti-German sentiment in Omaha during the First World War, Peter was able to raise the circulation of the Tribüne by absorbing many smaller newspapers in Nebraska and Iowa. Among them (with the dates of acquisition, if known) were the Nebraska Volksblatt (West Point, Nebraska), 1917; the Platte River Zeitung (Fremont, Nebraska), 1917; Die Nebraska Post (Beatrice, Nebraska), 1918; the Nebraska Biene or “Nebraska Bee”(Columbus, Nebraska), 1918; the Nebraska Echo (Lincoln, Nebraska), 1918; the Westlicher Beobachter or “Western Watcher” (Auburn, Nebraska); the Iowa Biene or “Iowa Bee,” (Fort Dodge, Iowa); and the Iowa Staats-Anzeiger or “Iowa State Advertiser” (Des Moines, Iowa), 1914. Thanks in part to these mergers, circulation of the Tägliche Omaha Tribüne grew from 17,500 in 1917 to 22,610 in 1920.

According to Germany and the Americas: Culture, Politics and History, Val Peter gradually built “the last major chain of German-language newspapers in America” by purchasing papers in California, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Ohio. Many of these had been failing, so with the sole exception of a Baltimore newspaper edited by Peter’s sons, all were printed in Omaha. Because of these purchases, consolidations, and Peter’s keen business acumen, James Bergquist observed in the Yearbook of German-American Studies (2005), “the chain developed into the dominant German-language voice in the West and after that began to expand into a national enterprise.” Bergquist went on to note that “the Peter newspaper chain as a whole was greater than the largest single German-American newspaper of the day, the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold, which as separate papers published about 70,000 copies daily in 1934 and as a combined…paper published about 50,000 in 1940.”

Provided By: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Tägliche Omaha Tribüne (Omaha, Nebr.) 1912-1926

Other Title

  • Omaha Tribüne

Dates of Publication

  • 1912-1926

Created / Published

  • Omaha, Nebr. : Tribune Pub. Co., 1912-1926.

Headings

  • -  Germans--United States--Newspapers
  • -  German Americans--Newspapers
  • -  German American newspapers
  • -  Omaha (Neb.)--Newspapers
  • -  German Americans
  • -  Germans
  • -  Nebraska--Omaha
  • -  United States
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Douglas--Omaha

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sun.)
  • -  30. Jahrg., No. 1 (14. März 1912)-42. Jahrg., No. 138 (28. Aug. 1926).
  • -  Some irregularities in numbering.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  In German.
  • -  Weekly ed.: Wöchentliche Omaha Tribune, 1912-1919.
  • -  Absorbed: Nebraska Volksblatt, 1917, and: Platte River Zeitung, 1917, and: Nebraska Post (Beatrice, Neb.), 1918, and: Nebraska Biene, 1918, and: Nebraska Echo, 1918, and: Westlicher Beobachter, and: Iowa Biene, and: Iowa Staats-Anzeiger.
  • -  Split into: Omaha Tribüne, and: Sonntagsblatt der Omaha Tribüne.
  • -  Omaha Tribüne (DLC)sn 83045651 (OCoLC)9523071
  • -  Sonntagsblatt der Omaha Tribüne (DLC)sn 83045659 (OCoLC)9554826

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83045652

OCLC Number

  • 9574114

ISSN Number

  • 2688-8041

Preceding Titles

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Tägliche Omaha Tribüne Omaha, Nebr. -1926. (Omaha, NE), Jan. 1 1912. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045652/.

APA citation style:

(1912, January 1) Tägliche Omaha Tribüne Omaha, Nebr. -1926. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn83045652/.

MLA citation style:

Tägliche Omaha Tribüne Omaha, Nebr. -1926. (Omaha, NE) 1 Jan. 1912. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn83045652/.