The history of Egmont starts in a modest little apartment in one of Copenhagen’s smaller suburbs in 1878. With financial support from his mother a young typographer by the name of Egmont Harald Petersen is given the opportunity to buy a hand press, so-called ”fluesmækker” (fly swatter in Danish), which is a simple hand-operated printing machine.

Egmont has gotten started and soon the little one-man business, P. Petersens Bogtrykkeri (after his mother Petrine Petersen) begins to develop. From printing business cards, invoices, letterheads and the like, Egmont begins to graduate to printing books and magazines.

The purchase of ”Damernes Magasin” in 1902 (from 1904 ”Hjemmet”) really gets the magazine business moving, and they quickly acquire a presence in both Norway and Sweden.

Gutenberghus
Increased activity and the continued growth of the printing house demand space. In 1911 Egmont Harald Petersen decides to build a large printing house and magazine company at Kongens Have in the middle of Copenhagen.

Egmont Harald Petersen died on August 5th 1914 and never saw the new building, which was completed in September that year. The building is named Gutenberghus after the inventor of the printing press, Johann Gutenberg.

Gutenberghus also became the new name of the organization.

When he died in 1914 Egmont Harald Petersen left behind him a solid business in constant growth. Yet despite the size of Gutenburghus, it could not keep up with the rate of expansion in the printing and magazine businesses.

The organization again needs more space, and in 1928 the second Gutenberghus is unveiled in Vognmagergade, in the middle of Copenhagen.

This is where Egmont still have their head office today.

International expansion
After World War 2 Gutenberghus begins to spread their activities to the rest of the world. They start in the German-speaking countries and in the 1980’s establish themselves in Great Britain.

After the fall of the wall in 1989 Gutenberghus were quick to realize the opportunities presented by the new East European markets. The organization establishes itself in Hungary, what were then Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and afterwards in the other East European countries such as Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and the Ukraine.

Founding of Norway’s leading commercial TV channel
However, it is not just the opportunities of the new markets that attract Gutenberghus in the 80’s and 90’s.

In 1984 Gutenberghus and Nordisk Film, in co-operation with Aller and Danish dailies, formed WeekendTV, the forerunner to what later became TV2. Building on the experience gained from WeekendTV they could establish TV2 Gruppen Norge, the leading commercial TV channel in Norway, in 1992, together with a group of partners. As of 2012, Egmont owns 100% of the station.

In 1992 the organization changes its name from Gutenberghus to today’s Egmont.

Movies, games and movie theatres
In 1992 Egmont and Nordisk Film join forces and by virtue of this Egmont expand their activities to include movie-production, -distribution and -screening. 

Nordisk Film is the Nordic Region’s leading supplier of electronic entertainment. Movie theatres in Denmark and Norway, sale and distribution of PlayStation games and consoles, studies and technical facilities all contribute to Nordisk Film’s broad involvement in the media industry.

Egmont on the internet
At the end of the 80’s Egmont began to investigate the new opportunities offered by the internet, and today the company is involved in a broad assortment of communities and e-commerce ventures in a string of countries. 

Professional pride and grand visions
Egmont’s advance from a kitchen table printing press to a modern, international media organization with activities in 30 countries is the result of focused expansion based on classic values like quality, vigilance, and precision.

The professional pride and the broad outlook which typified the founder, Egmont Harald Petersen, has been the trademark of Egmont and the key phrases in the organization’s more than 130 year history.

Egmont always strives to deliver the best products and to spread their activities over a broad geographic area and over several media platforms. 

Today Egmont comprises companies which are involved in over 150 different aspects of media.