Eleven of the fifteen bookshops that were going to disappear will continue to sell Bibles and Christian books.
Thomas Sczigiol (Finance and Human Resources), Tim Schneider (Insolvency Administrator), Dr Klaus Meiß (Managing Director, Francke-Buch GmbH). / Photo: Annika Mengel, [link]Brunnen Verlag[/link]. Via Buchmarkt.de
In February, it was announced that Alpha, the largest chain of Christian bookshops in Germany, was going bankrupt.
However, most of the establishments and dozens of jobs seem to have been saved.
As announced by the lawyer in charge of the case, Francke-Buch, another Christian bookshop chain, took over the operations of 11 of the shops from September. Tim Schneider explained, according to the trade magazine Buchmarkt: "My goal was to preserve as many jobs as possible and make the company fit for the future. This has been achieved".
The managing director of the new company, Klaus Meiß, expressed in August 2025: "We are delighted that we can continue our Christian literary work in many places with our bookshops. Customers can continue to obtain Bibles, Christian calendars and books from us. In this way, we offer people opportunities to learn about or deepen their faith".
He also thanked the "dedicated employees of Alpha for their tremendous tremendous commitment".
The sale of physical books is undergoing a major crisis worldwide, leading to the bankruptcy of many businesses in the sector. The restructuring of the business towards greater distribution on the internet and more value in physical stores is among the solutions that have been implemented in the last decade, including in the Protestant book sector.
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