Averbode

1877–1918

From 1877 on, with the creation of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, the abbey made a lot of publications to reach out to all the members of the Brotherhood and for promotion. To reduce the costs, on 14 February 1881, a small printing press was bought in Paris, and started producing flyers and other material. Already in 1882, a second printing press and a paper cutting machine were added.

By 1885, the Brotherhood has 25,000 members, and in 1886 the members' magazine Bode der Aartsbroederschap van O.-L.-Vrouw van het H. Hart was created as a monthly, which changed to a biweekly magazine in 1887. A French edition followed in 1895. To make this possible, a new press was bought in 1885, and a steam driven press was added in 1890. The circulation of both magazines together increased to nearly 100,000 at the start of World War I. Other publications soon followed, with different parish newspapers in 1904, and the weekly Averbode's Weekblad in 1907. The Abbey also printed for other customers, and produced a few books as well.

Two rotary printing presses were bought in 1897 and 1898, and electric power was installed in 1903. At the time, about 80 people, mainly men, worked in the factory, then called "Drukkerij van Averbode" or "Drukkerij van de abdij van Averbode" ("Printing of Averbode" or "Printing of the Abbey of Averbode"). It was at the time one of the major employers of the town, and was crucial in the coming of the tramway in 1900 and the post office in 1909 to Averbode. At the start of World War 1, some 267,000 magazines were published and printed weekly in Averbode.Most of this economic activity came to a halt during the first World War though.

1919–1940

After the war, the Brotherhood had lost much of its momentum, and the Abbey started the "Eucharistische Kruistocht" ("Eucharistic Crusade") in 1920, as a means to get the Christian faith to the youth of Belgium. The printing continued some old publications, especially Averbode's Weekblad, but the new magazines Zonneland (Sun Country) and its French language counterpart Petits Belges (Small Belgians) soon became very popular as well. To print these magazines, a new four colour press was bought in 1924.

The 1920s were a period of expansion, with the success of the Eucharistic Crusade as the motor. New magazines appeared all the time, and the publication of books started to boom as well from 1925 on. The cultural magazine Hooger Leven (Higher Life) started in 1927, and Vlaamsche Filmkens (Flemish Movies), a weekly story of 32 pages for the youth, debuted in 1930. New presses were also bought for commercial printing, with limited success. Finally, in 1932 the existing magazine Ons Land (Our Country) was acquired. All decisions and control was still done by the monks of the abbey, and in the early 1930s, it became obvious that the printing had acquired a large debt which even threatened the abbey itself. In 1934, the debt was estimated to be 27 million Belgian Francs, which, keeping inflation in mind, would amount to more than 17 million Euros currently. TO resolve this, a new structure was created, with professional external help for the financial part. The printing was no longer a part of the same company as the abbey and was renamed "Altiora". All activities were scrutinized, and those that created the losses were dropped, while new, more commercial activities were started. The circulation of Ons Land rose from 16,000 in 1932 to 60,000 in 1938. From 1937 on, the printing started to make a profit, and continued to do so until 1943, when due to World War II, most activities had to be stopped.

1940–1945

During the second World War, the printing was much restricted. Most publications of Averbode first continued, but soon the number of pages and the frequency dropped, due to rationing, even though the popularity of most publications soared. The biggest success was Ons Land, with a circulation of nearly 130,000 copies in May 1942. The magazine became gradually more German-friendly, although it never became a true propaganda magazine, and only ceased publication in May 1944, when the paper rationing was at its worst, and when the supply of electricity couldn't be assured any longer. The shortage of paper and other materials had already led to the end of the publications of Vlaamsche Filmkens, Zonneland, Petits Belges and other popular magazines in 1943. On 6 May 1942, a fire destroyed most of the printing. Due to a high insurance, this fire together with the success of the magazines led to a serious reduction of the debts of the abbey. The larger abbey fire of 29 December 1942, did not touch the printing factory, but strained the resources and manpower of the abbey even further.

After 1945

Altiora sold the profitable but due to its too German friendly contents during the War tainted magazine Ons Land in 1946, although it was further printed in Averbode until 1959. Some other publications did not restart after the war, but the biggest successes all returned. In November 1944, Zonneland, Petits Belges, Averbode's Weekblad and La Semaine all restarted.

Things went rather uneventful until the 1960s, when the market in Belgium changed drastically. While the youth magazines of Averbode flowered and multiplied fared the adult magazines