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Newspaper Der Staats=anzeiger (Rugby, N.D.) 1906-Current

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About Der Staats=anzeiger (Rugby, N.D.) 1906-Current

Der Staats-Anzeiger (the State Gazette) was established in July 1906 at Rugby, a small country town in Pierce County, North Dakota. Motive for this venture came from some hundred German-Russian families, mostly from the Odessa region and the so-called Kuchurgan District in South Russia. Most were farmers who had settled south and west of Rugby.

Publishing a German-language newspaper was the idea of Anderson and Stager, two young men who published an English-language weekly, the Pierce County Tribune. Neither could speak or write the language, so they hired an editor, who also set type. The paper struggled for several weeks until the publishers were able to entice Frank Brandt to Rugby. Under Brandt, who soon became part-owner, circulation increased dramatically. A subscription to the newspaper was $1.50 per year in the United States and $2.00 per year in Russia. Soon the owners either purchased or at least made a payment on their first typesetting machine. The $3,000 typesetter was equipped with both German and English type and was very efficient.

By 1911, Stager had become ill and was forced to sell his stake so he could move to a different climate. Anderson overextended his credit, and a couple of young attorneys from Devils Lake promised to invest and keep the business going. They decided to move the Staats-Anzieger to their hometown, hiring an editor to handle the Pierce County Tribune. It turned out the Devils Lake men wanted the typesetter machine but not Brandt, whose son Albert had recently become the typesetter. It was also soon discovered that they had no money, so the Brandts took their typesetter and began publishing the Staats-Anzeiger in Bismarck in 1912. The business continued to grow, as did the number of contributors. There were also contributors as well as correspondents among the readership abroad, especially in South Russia and Romania.

In July 1914, war in Europe broke out, and a war against German-language newspapers followed, especially after the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917. Brandt later said that the eighteen months that followed were the darkest days of the family’s business and personal lives. But despite having to fight in the courts for their right simply to keep space for their business, the Brandts as well as the Staats-Anzeiger survived and eventually flourished again.

The newspaper was successful in connecting many of the Germans from Russia who settled in the Great Plains of the United States. Also, family members on opposite sides of the world remained in communication through letters published in Der Staats-Anzeiger.

Frank Brandt and his wife Sophia passed away in 1942 and 1941, respectively. Sons Walter and Albert continued the newspaper until 1945, when they sold it to the Tribune Publishing Company of Omaha, Nebraska. The company maintained an office in Bismarck, staffed by an editor and business manager. The company moved to Fredonia in 1968 and then closed in 1969. In 1970, the paper merged with Die Welt-Post to form a new publication known as Die Welt-Post und der Staats-Anzeiger.

Provided By: State Historical Society of North Dakota

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Der Staats=anzeiger (Rugby, N.D.) 1906-Current

Dates of Publication

  • 1906-current

Created / Published

  • Rugby, N.D. : Anderson & Steger

Headings

  • -  Rugby (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  Devils Lake (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  Bismarck (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  Fredonia (N.D.)--Newspapers
  • -  North Dakota--Bismarck
  • -  North Dakota--Devils Lake
  • -  North Dakota--Fredonia
  • -  North Dakota--Rugby
  • -  United States--Nebraska--Douglas--Omaha
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Pierce--Rugby
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Ramsey--Devils Lake
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Burleigh--Bismarck
  • -  United States--North Dakota--Logan--Fredonia

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1906.
  • -  "Beiblatt zu der Pierce County tribune."
  • -  Place of publication varies: <1906>-Nov. 23, 1911, Rugby, N.D.; Dec. 7, 1911-Apr. 25, 1912, Devils Lake, N.D.; May 2, 1912-July 13, 1945?, Bismarck, N.D.; -, with an office in Bismarck, which moved to Fredonia, N.D. .
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: 1. Jahrg., no. 37 (11. Apr. 1907).

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn89074935

OCLC Number

  • 20284939

ISSN Number

  • 2639-5142

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:

Der Staats=anzeiger Rugby, N.D. -Current. (Omaha, NE), Jan. 1 1906. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89074935/.

APA citation style:

(1906, January 1) Der Staats=anzeiger Rugby, N.D. -Current. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn89074935/.

MLA citation style:

Der Staats=anzeiger Rugby, N.D. -Current. (Omaha, NE) 1 Jan. 1906. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn89074935/.