Born in Westphalian Paderborn in 1904 and after finishing his university training, Willy Schreckenberg began his professional career as a bookseller. After five years of war service, Schreckenberg worked as a publishing editor from 1946 to 1952 by F.H.Kerle in Heidelberg, from where the chairman Karl Maria Stepan brought him to “Styria” as manager of the book publishing house.

In agreement with Stepans` basic publishing concept, it was Schreckenbergs aim to encourage a non-conforming, modern spirituality through the development of the publishing house, which in a way he succeeded through the German edition of “Prières”, by the French youthful thinking priest of the day Michel Quoist. In 1955 this book was widely circulated and for a whole generation of young people it was a “Cult book”.

Schreckenberg continued consistently in the 50´s and 60´s on the road to success, with works from authors of the “New Theology” and progressive Catholicism such as Henri de Lubac, P. Pie Régamey OP, Louis Evely, Ignace Lepp and Marie-Alain Couturier amongst others, whose books external to the publishing house, were given the label “The courageous books”. All this gave the name “Styria” more acknowledgement and a higher recognition in the German-speaking areas.

In 1972 a few weeks after his retirement, Willy Schreckenberg died.