Literature Publisher: Sensational sales of Merkel's "Freedom"
The publishing house Kiepenheuer & Witsch reports great success with Angela Merkel's book "Freiheit". "We are still selling around 12,000 copies a week, which is sensational," publisher Kerstin Gleba told the portal "faz.net" on Saturday.
18.01.2025, 11:08
SDA
In "Freiheit. Erinnerungen 1954 - 2021", the 70-year-old former German chancellor looks back on her life over 736 pages. "It was very important to us and the authors to also reach a young audience," says Gleba.
The interview that Swiss-German presenter Hazel Brugger conducted with Merkel has 1.5 million views on YouTube. Many users have also shared excerpts from it on social media. This is how the young audience became aware of the book. Around a third of the readership is under 40, and many young people have also come to book signings.
Also in 1st place in Switzerland
"I think the book can also give something to people who are not so familiar with politics, thanks to Angela Merkel's special life story. It shows that it's not "those at the top" who make policy, but people who help shape our society with all their strengths and weaknesses," said the publisher.
"In Germany, we sold 600,000 copies by Christmas. That's really phenomenal," emphasized Gleba. The international success was also "gigantic". In the USA, 25,000 copies were sold in the first few weeks, in England 40,000. "In the Netherlands, the book was number one on the bestseller list with 25,000 copies sold." It was also on the bestseller lists in Switzerland - at times even at number 1 - and in Italy and all Scandinavian countries for several weeks.
