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The Messrelation had a relatively vast readership. Nevertheless, the state of preservation of this ambiguous publication in private and official libraries is evidence of its unclear importance. For the clients the half-year periodical had rather an almanac-like character. As with all other printed media, there was always a certain tension between the local or state authority and the printers and editors of the Messrelation. The half-year periodical with many imitator had two further points in common with the first newspaper in Strassbourg in1605: the word “relation” in the title and the image of Mercury. An unconscious motivation to acquire the Messrelation was possibly an imitative attitude of the readership, i.e. the middle class of the society, towards the news gathering behavior of the upper classes through the weekly handwritten news.