BENZIGER. — A Catholic publishing house of Swiss origin, with branches in the United States of America (New York, Cincinnati, Chicago), in Germany (Cologne, Waldshut), and elsewhere. Its founder was Josef Carl B., born in 1762 at Einsiedeln, Switzerland, and died there in 1841. Together with his brother Franz Sales B. (born in 1758, died in 1827), who was director of the printing press of the local Benedictine abbey, he established the nucleus of the future great publishing house.
In 1833 the company was reorganized by Josef Karl (1799–1873) and Nikolaus B. (1808–64). Under these two new publishers, its production of books and artistic works developed considerably. In 1840 the Einsiedler Ka-
lender was published for the first time. From a technical point of view, the lithographic process and the other modern innovations in the printing arts were adopted. At the same time, a son of Josef Karl, Adelrich (1827–73), who was Swiss consul in Cincinnati, founded the branch in the United States in 1853. In 1867 the publication of Alte und Neue Welt was begun, the first illustrated popular magazine for German-speaking Catholics. The publication, in large print runs, of religious texts was also begun, including the Bible in twelve languages and well-known prayer books. The company’s publishing activity was conducted almost exclusively in the field of popular religious literature. From 1896 to 1914, the Swiss company published no fewer than 2,154 works, while the American branch (now entirely independent of the European parent company) had already reached a publishing output of more than 5,500 works by 1912.