History of De Gruyter Brill
We have been publishing scholarly research since the dawn of academic publishing in the 17th century. For over 300 years, De Gruyter Brill has been publishing and disseminating knowledge that is still used and built upon today.
Discover our vibrant history, our publishing highlights thus far, and how we are taking our heritage into the future to shape the next generation of scholarly publishing.
Over three centuries of scholarly publishing
Founded in Leiden, the home of the oldest Dutch university, in 1683 during the golden age of Dutch history and culture, Brill has had a rich and varied publishing history, including, among other notable works, the publication of Bayle’s influential Dictionnaire Historique et Critique and the Nag Hammadi codices for UNESCO, as well as the Encyclopedia of Islam and the inception of one of the first scholarly journals in Chinese studies, T’oung Pao.
In neighboring Prussia, after Frederick the Great granted the bookstore of the Königliche Realschule the permission to print and publish books in 1749, a businessman named Andreas Reimer took over and built a flourishing academic publishing business. In 1894, businessman and German philologist Walter de Gruyter joined the operation. Just three years later he acquired the business. Soon after merging Reimer with four other esteemed academic publishers, De Gruyter became one of the leading publishing houses in the humanities, social sciences, and beyond.
Shaping the future of academic scholarship
Since their inception, both publishing houses have been committed to serving scholars from all disciplines by publishing books and journals of the highest quality. After joining forces in 2024, De Gruyter Brill is now taking this mission and its heritage into the future, furthering and spreading scholarship, driven by the conviction that academic research is vital for advancing society.
Weaving stories together
Each imprint under the De Gruyter Brill umbrella has its own story to tell.
The Akademie Verlag, for instance, founded in East Berlin in 1946, and focused on publishing the works of the internationally renowned German Academy of Sciences (DAdW) as well as publications by other East German academies, was the biggest academic publisher in the German Democratic Republic.
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht in Göttingen has been publishing scientific literature since 1735, after the Dutch publisher Abraham Vandenhoeck was granted the privilege of printing and distributing books for the nascent University of Göttingen.
To learn more about each of our imprints, their histories and specializations, visit their official website.
