... when a seventeen year old Dane, Egmont Harald Petersen set up a small print shop in his family flat. He obtained money for this objective by pawning, with his mother’s consent, her rocking chair, oil lamp, four sauceboats and a sewing machine. On the day when Egmont went to the city to pick up the first printing equipment, he found a coin in the street. This became his lucky coin and to the present day it remains at the firm’s headquarters in Copenhagen.

Initially, the printing press was mainly used to print calling cards and other short-run printed material. Within two months Egmont Harald hired a helper. Soon the Petersen firm gained a solid and reliable reputation. For the next 25 years the firm expanded, investing in modern machines and employing more and more workers.  In 1904 it took its place in the media world, owing to the purchase of a small magazine for women “Damernes Blad”.
Changing the formula of the title into a family magazine, Egmont Harald Petersen released it to the market under the name Hjemmet (Home). This title rather quickly became the largest Scandinavian weekly and the Egmont Group continues to publish it. At the time the firm was given the name Gutenberghus (Gutenberg home) from the name of a modern print shop – the firm’s headquarters. 

The Gutenberghus firm prospered according to the ideas of the founder and despite a worldwide recession and mass unemployment, it generated profits. In 1930 the firm had more than 600 employees. Another turning point in the firm’s history took place in 1948. A contract was signed with Walt Disney to issue licensed comics in Scandinavia and Germany. Through the end of the 1980s, Gutenberghus operated entirely in Scandinavia and Germany. At the turn of the 1980/1990s  the company started to compete in international markets and opened up offices in Great Britain, Eastern Europe and Asia.

In 1991 the firm changed its name to Egmont in honour of the founder (www.egmont.com).

Today, Egmont is an international media concern, operating in 23 countries, with more than 3800 employees working in more than 100 firms. Corporate turnover in 2006 was 1.23 billion euro.

Egmont is the largest publisher of books and magazines for children and youth in Europe.

The desire of the firm’s founder, who experienced the difficulties of life in a poor family, was to convey a portion of the firm’s future profits for charitable goals.

According to his wish, heirs transformed the firm into a foundation in 1920, that was to support single mothers with needy and sick children as well as young people deserving better education opportunities.

In 2005 alone, Egmont designated 4.8 million euros for various projects. Specific information is available at the Foundation’s website (www.egmontfonden.dk).