The Publishing House

Tessloff Verlag is one of Germany’s leading publishers of non-fiction books for children and young people. Our programme ranges from educational activity books for babies, pre-school and primary school children, through to answer books and the successful knowledge-based series “WAS IST WAS”.

Our Philosophy

”You are a very nosy child!” – Sometimes adults become infuriated at children’s inquisitiveness.
However, we at Tessloff regard curiosity and the desire to discover as being the greatest good! Babies as well as young people can broaden their knowledge step- by -step with our products.
Therefore our aim is to create high-quality non-fiction books that will accompany curious readers at every stage of their childhood and youth. We wish to provide an initial motivation through our products that will ultimately encourage our readers to think and read further.
Right from the beginning, the early learning programme encourages the joy of reading and acquisition of knowledge by taking a fun approach. The non-fiction titles for young people make popular topics easily accessible and not only concentrate on the “acquisition of information” but also emphasize the fun to be had whilst gaining knowledge.

Celebrating 50 years of Tessloff in 2006 means for us re-thinking and re-structuring our programme.
Tessloff Verlag’s anniversary will, amongst other things, be marked by the introduction of many thrilling new products. So as to provide an even better overview of our titles we have created three product areas: Tessloff Playing, Tessloff Learning and Tessloff Knowledge.
Tessloff Playing stands for gaining knowledge by taking a fun approach. Tessloff Learning carefully prepares children for their first years at school. Tessloff Knowledge provides competent and age-appropriate books on exciting factual topics.

The secret of our success has always been to remain focused on one thing: publishing excellent non-fiction books that inspire inquisitiveness and satisfy the curiosity of our readers.

Our History

The Tessloff Verlag was founded in 1956 by Ragnar Tessloff in Hamburg, and this year celebrates its 50th birthday!
Travelling and searching for new ideas, publisher Ragnar Tessloff discovered the non-fiction book series HOW AND WHY in the USA. There were no children’s non- fiction books in Germany at that time and he was so enthusiastic about the idea of presenting knowledge in a competent and easy to understand way that in 1961 the first WAS IST WAS volume “The Human Being” was published.
Some years later, the owner of the HOW AND WHY rights decided not to advance the book series in the USA. Since that time the Tessloff Verlag owns the exclusive WAS IST WAS world rights and Publisher Ragnar Tessloff successfully developed the knowledge-based series under the brand name WAS IST WAS. By creating the striking WAS IT WAS- logo, a high brand recognition was ensured.
Up to now more than 50 million copies of WAS IST WAS have been sold worldwide. The book and TV rights have been sold to 25 countries!
In the 1980s the publishing house moved from Hamburg to Nuremberg in the heart of Bavaria in Southern Germany. The publishing house is now situated across from Nuremberg’s medieval castle.