Volkswille, later renamed Arbeiter-Zeitung, was a German language newspaper published from Temesvár/Timișoara between 1893 and 1933. Volkswille was the main organ of the German-speaking labour movement in the Banat region. It was the sole long-lasting German-language socialist newspaper in the region.
Hungarian period
The first issue of Volkswille appeared on May 1, 1893. Volkswille was founded as a weekly publication. Initially it carried the by-line 'Organ for the Interests of the Working Population in Southern Hungary'. From January 19, 1984, the by-line was changed to 'Organ of the Social Democratic Party of Hungary'. On April 1, 1898, the original by-line was reinstated. On November 8, 1905, the new by-line was 'Social Democratic Organ for Politics and People's Economics of Southern Hungary'. On the same day the newspaper was converted into a twice-weekly publication. The by-line was somewhat modified on March 28, 1905, as 'Social Democratic Organ for People's Economics of Southern Hungary', and on January 1, 1909, reduced to simply 'Social Democratic Organ of Southern Hungary'. In the midst of the World War, Volkwille returned to weekly publishing on August 8, 1914. Editors of Volkswille during the Hungarian period included Wilhelm Paul, Robert Blum, Johann Dobrillovich, Anton Zabilsky, Josef Schwarz, Peter Karl, Gyula Horacsek, János Biró, Béla Czeizel, János Tóth, Rudolf Kruppa, János Maul, Gyula Freund, J. Maul, Ferenc Nedl, J. Schönberger, Lajos Fried, Mihály Back, József Herber, Vilmos Sehorsch, György Bauer, Ferenc Geistlinger and József Gabriel from January 11, 1913.
Romanian period
On December 1, 1918 Volkswille was converted into a daily newspaper. Between November 25, 1919, and December 11, 1930, it appeared under the name Arbeiter-Zeitung. Josef Gabriel remained the editor of Arbeiter-Zeitung during this period. The offices of Arbeiter-Zeitung were located on Strada General Dragalina, 1. Arbeiter-Zeitung served as the German-language organ of the Banat Socialist Party, and later of the Social Democratic Party. Notably, whilst there was another German Social Democratic daily in Bukovina, there was no Romanian-language dailies published in the country as of the late 1920s. In 1930 the name was changed back to Volkswille. The newspaper was closed down in 1933, due to financial constraints. It was replaced by Neue Zeitung, which was published between July 1933 and 1940.
