A copy of the German-language newspaper Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung in the printing press. Screenshot from the video “Die Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (DAZ)” from daz.asia‘s YouTube channel. Fair use.
The upcoming 60th anniversary of Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (DAZ), the only German-language newspaper in Central Asia, is a major milestone for the local German community. Since its establishment in 1966, DAZ has been the voice of the German community in the region, especially in Kazakhstan, where it is based.
Since its very beginning, but increasingly since the mass exodus of ethnic Germans in the 1990s, the newspaper has been committed to preserving and disseminating German culture and language in Central Asia. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, nearly 800,000 ethnic Germans have left the country. Nowadays around 200,000 people with German roots live in Kazakhstan.
From ideological indoctrination to bridging two nations
Initially, the DAZ was founded with the aim of Marxist–Leninist indoctrination of Germans. Today it represents an important bridging element between Germany and Kazakhstan with a circulation of 1,000 issues per week.
The materials are published in Russian, German, and sometimes in Kazakh, and cover a wide range of issues, including political, economic, and social developments in Kazakhstan, Germany, and the wider post-Soviet space.
While originally being a mainly print media outlet, it has evolved into a multimedia platform actively sharing its activities on Instagram and Facebook among other social media services.
By publishing every week both in German and Russian, the DAZ picks up recent news and trends relevant not only to a German-speaking audience interested in Kazakhstan but also to a wider audience.
Stories focusing on history, culture, and lifestyle are the most frequent and popular topics. An example of this is stories of successful Kazakhstanis of German origin. By introducing people with a German–Kazakh background, the DAZ highlights the successful path many people took. A good example of this is the interview with Olga Gauks, who recently got elected to the Berlin House of Representatives as the first representative from Kazakhstan.
Here is an Instagram post with the interview with Olga Gauks.
Furthermore, DAZ creates a communication forum for both sides, by sharing recent events and sharing contacts. As an example, the visit of the German chancellor Olaf Scholz to Astana in September 2024 generated prosperous opportunities in terms of future mutual projects in energy infrastructure and education. While mainstream media reported on the visit in more general terms, the DAZ emphasized particular measures interesting to the German-Kazakh community.
Additionally, DAZ is a resource for those interested in businesses, education, and tourism in Central Asia and Germany. Foreigners interested in studying or working in Kazakhstan and/or Germany can benefit from such coverage and learn about educational and employment opportunities. It is noteworthy that Kazakhstan and Germany are boosting cooperation in higher and vocational education and DAZ provides coverage on these developments.
More than just a newspaper
In the interview with Global Voices, Robert Gerlitz, who has been the Director of the DAZ since 2018, noted: “Technically, DAZ is a subsidiary of the Social Foundation ‘Association of Germans of Kazakhstan “Wiedergeburt” (Rebirth).’ These two structures are inextricably linked.”
DAZ publishes not only the newspaper but also almost all the information related to the self-organization of Germans in Kazakhstan on other platforms.
Together with the Association of Germans of Kazakhstan “Wiedergeburt,” which was founded in 1989, DAZ is committed to preserving and promoting the national identity of the Germans in the former Soviet republics.
Self-organization is one of the consolidating factors of ethnic development of the German population in Kazakhstan. Since 1995, the Association of Germans of Kazakhstan has been actively involved in the activities of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, helping to build and promote inter-ethnic and inter-confessional harmony in Kazakhstan, which DAZ also promotes.
Gerlitz explained further about the newspaper's perspective.
As long as “Wiedergeburt” exists, the information needs of the German ethnic group will continue to be met by the printed and electronic versions of the newspaper. The DAZ will therefore live on. In the age of digitalization, electronic communication will become more and more important, and we will expand our websites and social media accounts.
History of Germans in Kazakhstan
The story of how the Germans came to Kazakhstan is characterized by suffering and forced deportation, but also by opportunity and hope. A manifesto issued by the Russian Tsarina Catherine II in 1763 attracted thousands of Germans to Russia, where they were allowed to cultivate vast tracts of land. The rush was great, and the colonialists settled in the Volga region in particular.
In 1941, Joseph Stalin deported the German minority, branded as spies, to Siberia and Kazakhstan, where they were initially not allowed to move freely.
Here is a YouTube video about Germans in Kazakhstan.
Ethnic Germans have played a significant role in shaping many areas of Kazakh culture and Kazakhstan as a scientific location. One particular example is the now-deceased writer and translator Herold Belger, for whom the DAZ organized several projects and events in honor of his 90th anniversary.
Belger was an extraordinary person who built the pillars of a bridge between the two cultural areas through his 45 books, numerous reviews, and prose in German and Kazakh. The Kazakh postal service recently honored him with a stamp.
Names such as Vladimir Baumeister and Ivan Sauer have long been included in the canon of the country's most influential personalities. Baumeister was a surgeon and deputy of the Supreme Council of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. Sauer is a businessman in agriculture and manufacturer of one of the most popular dairy product companies in Kazakhstan called “Agrofirma Rodina.”
Challenges and prospects
Lawmakers in Kazakhstan proposed a law in mid-February to introduce a law on “foreign agents” based on the Russian model. The left-wing opposition People's Party of Kazakhstan claimed that the law would protect Kazakhstan's sovereignty, to which neither the ruling party nor the government has officially responded.
At present, therefore, one can only speculate about the details, but such a law has already been introduced in other former Soviet republics, such as Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. This law has hit civil society and the media landscape in Georgia hard and there are concerns that such a law could have a similar impact in Kazakhstan.
DAZ is currently funded by the Kazakh Ministry of Information, the (German) Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), and the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI), i.e. to a large extent by the German government funding.
But Gertliz is not worried.
The [potential] introduction of the Foreign Agents Act does not cause us any particular concern, as our parent organization, the “Wiedergeburt” foundation, has already been on the list of organizations receiving financial support from abroad since 2024.
Since the DAZ is free of charge, it is dependent on funding and advertising. Looking at the challenges most traditional media outlets face, such as a declining readership, the future of the DAZ also depends on its further adaptability to the needs of the modern news audience.
