Capital was established in 1956.[1] The magazine is published monthly by Gruner + Jahr.[1][2] It appears on the first Thursday of each month.[3] However, at the beginning of the 2000s it was published on a biweekly basis.[4] Horst von Buttlar is the editor-in-chief of the magazine which has its headquarters in Berlin.[5]
Since 1970 the magazine has published annually the Kunstkompass (Art Compass), a hierarchy of mainstream artists and their ranking within the art market and mainstream art world. Art Compass has been an accurate indicator of art market and mainstream gallery success over that period, despite the open but imprecise and contingent factors that are used to create the mathematics within the league-table.[6]
On March 1, 2021, the capital editorial team of Stern magazine and the editorial teams of Capital and Business Punk magazines merged. The politics and economics editorial team at Stern in Hamburg was dissolved.[7] A joint editorial team is responsible for all political and economic reporting from the magazines Stern, Capital and Business Punk. The capital office has a total of 35 journalists. Capital editor-in-chief Horst von Buttlar took over the management of the joint capital office in Berlin. Timo Pache has been the new editor-in-chief of Capital since February 15, 2023.
In 2001, Capital had a circulation of 228,000 copies.[4] In 2010 the circulation of the magazine was down to 175,240 copies.[2] During the fourth quarter of 2014 it was down to 139,342 copies.[3]
^ abjoint venture with Amperwelle Studio München Programmanbietergesellschaft, Axel Springer AG, Burda, Studio Gong, m.b.t. Mediengesellschaft der bayerischen Tageszeitungen für Kabelkommunikation, Medienpool and Radio Bavaria Rundfunkprogrammgesellschaft.
^joint venture with Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack, Studio Gong Niedersachsen and Brune-Rieck-Beteiligungs.
^joint venture with Axel Springer, Heinrich Bauer Verlag, Lühmanndruck Harburger Zeitungsgesellschaft and Morgenpost Verlag.
