Wilhelm Heyne founded the publisher, named after him, on 15 February 1934 in Dresden. The first authors included Reinhold Conrad Muschler ("Die Unbekannte"), Werner Bergengruen ("Die drei Falken"), Ernst Moritz Mungenast ("Christop Gadar"), and Arthur-Heinz Lehmann ("Rauhbautz will auch leben!"), as well as the US-American writer Gwen Bristow with "Tiefer Süden". In 1940, Franz Schneekluth acquired minority shares in the Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, after he became director of the publishing house in 1935. During the air raids on Dresden the publishing house in Reichsstrasse was completely destroyed.