Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Lars Rose nominated as next MVFP chair

Germany’s Media Association of the Free Press (MVFP) is preparing for a leadership change. After Philipp Welte announced in late April 2026 that he would not seek another term as chair, the association’s board and the heads of its specialist and regional groups have now put forward a candidate.

According to the MVFP, Lars Joachim Rose, publisher at the Klambt media group, was nominated unanimously as candidate for the next chair of the board. Rose has indicated he is willing to stand for election.

Career and industry roles

Rose has held various positions within the Klambt organisation and was appointed managing director in 2001. He also served in committees representing consumer magazines within the former VDZ and became vice president of the VDZ presidium in 2015. Following the MVFP’s formation in 2022, he has been involved both on the board of the consumer media section and on the MVFP board.

Other board nominations

The MVFP also proposed the following candidates unanimously for the board election:

• Dr. Alfons Schräder (Heise Group) as board member and treasurer
• Thomas Hass (Spiegel-Verlag) as board member
• Holger Knapp (Sternefeld Medien) as board member
• Detlef Koenig (mhp Verlag) as board member
• Elisabeth Varn (Burda Verlag) as board member
• Frank Zeithammer (Evangelische Gemeindepresse Stuttgart) as board member

In addition to Welte, Ladina Heimgartner, CEO of Ringier Medien Schweiz AG, will not run again and will step down from MVFP bodies.

Election process

The MVFP delegates’ assembly elects the chair and six additional board members from among its own ranks. The assembly comprises 42 representatives from the specialist groups for trade media, consumer media and religious media, as well as regional groups for Bavaria, Berlin-Brandenburg, North, North Rhine-Westphalia and Southwest. The MVFP says it represents around 350 publishers with thousands of media brands.