Zur Geschichte der Fachzeitschriften: von der "Historischen Zeitschrift" zu den "zeitenblicken"

The article spans a large spectrum between the classical style periodicals and the new e-journals. First our attention is drawn to the beginnings of scientific jour nals which in the late 19th century were developing from university-standard periodicals to differentiated specialist bodies with a very broad offer of information. Taking the Historische Zeitung as an example, the individual stations of passage of the print periodicals are traced. Do print peri odicals belong to the past, are e-journals the promise of the future? The article closes with an ambivalent conclusion: Whereas the periodical crisis and technical possibilities would on the one hand seem to render e-journals as the most suitable and trendsetting medium for specialist infor mation, traditional reception forms and scepticism towards the volatile form of electronic publishing are still opposed to a broad use of such periodicals. It will take another few years before we can see to what extent this scepticism can be overcome.