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Vobach & Co was a Berlin magazine publisher in the early 20th century.
It was formed in 1898 by the merger of O. de Liagre, formed only two years earlier by Oscar de Liagre (1870-1940) with W. Vobach. This firm published many successful magazines, such as Sonntagszeitung für Deutschlands Frauen which had a circulation of 130.000 by 1913.
Vobach's only musical publication was the journal Die Musik-Mappe (The Music folder) which included a musical score in each number. It was edited by Felix Lederer-Prina, and appeared from January 1904 until May 1911.
Between the wars Vobach became part of
Kurt Herrmann (1888-1959)’s business empire: in 1927 W. Vobach & Co. joined Bernhard Meyer of Leipzig and Curt Hamel to form Universalverlag GmbH Berlin. This grew into a vast magazine business, with 25 titles, seven fashion magazines and 18 Insurance magazines (Versicherungszeitschriften) with a total circulation of nearly five million.
Herrmann, although a respected Prussian Staatsrat was suspected of tax evasion, changed his nationality to Liechtenstein, and by 1939 had become the owner of Gebr. Friedländer, a Berlin jeweler, and also of the great music publisher C. F. Peters as a result of Nazi aryanization policies. This Spiegel article gives more details.
