Wolff's Telegraphic Bureau

(Wolffs Telegraphisches Bu’ro), a press information agency founded in 1849 in Berlin by the German journalist B. Wolff under the auspices of the newspaper National Zeitung. By the terms of an agreement between the three largest European information agencies—Reuters (Great Britain), Havas (France), and Wolffs Telegraphic Bureau—which was concluded in 1870 and divided up the spheres of influence, Wolffs Telegraphic Bureau provided information, for the most part, to Austria, the Scandinavian countries, and the countries of eastern Europe (including Russia). In 1874, Wolff’s Telegraphic Bureau was converted into a large, joint-stock company called the Continental Telegraphic Company. In 1933 this company, along with the German Telegraphic Union, became part of the German Press Agency, which remained in existence until the capitulation of fascist Germany in May 1945.