The Kronen Zeitung (), commonly known as the Krone, is Austria's largest newspaper. It is known for being Eurosceptic. History The first issue of the Kronen Zeitung appeared on 2 January 1900. Gustav Davis, a former army officer, was the founder. The name referred to the monthly purchase price of one crown (it did not refer to the monarchic crown), recently made possible after the abolition of bureaucratic duties on newspapers (Zeitungsstempelgebühr) on 31 December 1899. The newspaper struggled in its first three years until the 10 June 1903 regicide of King Aleksandar Obrenović in the neighbouring Kingdom of Serbia, which the paper reported on extensively and made it achieve enormous popularity. The paper also became well known for its featured novels and other innovations, such as games for readers. By 1906 the newspaper had sold 100,000 copies. Franz Lehár composed a waltz for the newspaper for their 10,000th issue. After the Anschluß of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938, all media had to undergo the Gleichschaltung, which meant losing all editorial independence. The war took a further toll and on 31 August 1944 the paper had to shut down. Rebirth of the Krone In 1959, the journalist and previous editor-in-chief of the Kurier newspaper Hans Dichand bought the rights to the Krone name. He refounded the newspaper as the Neue Kronen Zeitung. This remains the official name, but the newspaper refers to itself as the Kronen Zeitung. First released on 11 April 1959, it soon became Austria's most influential tabloid newspaper, but also the most controversial. At the beginning of the 1960s the journalist Fritz Molden wanted to buy the paper, but, according to Dichand, the Creditanstalt bank would not give him the necessary credit. The circumstances concerning the purchase of the Kronen by Dichand are shrouded in mystery. The highly influential Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) politician Franz Olah, then vice-president of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB), brought Dichand into contact with the German businessman Ferdinand Karpik, who wanted to buy a share of 50%. Marketing strategist Kurt Falk became Dichand's right-hand man, and the Krone developed into one of the most widely read Austrian newspapers. In the middle of the 1960s, the ÖGB suddenly raised ownership claims on the Krone. They claimed that the former vice-president Franz Olah misused the trade union's funds for the purchase of the newspaper, using the German investor as a