''Die Gartenlaube – Illustriertes Familienblatt'' (; ) was the first successful mass-circulation

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

newspaper and a forerunner of all modern magazines.Sylvia Palatschek: ''Popular Historiographies in the 19th and 20th Centuries'' (Oxford: Berghahn, 2010) p. 41 It was founded by publisher

Ernst Keil Ernst Victor Keil (6 December 1816 – 23 March 1878) was a German bookseller, journalist, editor and publisher. His early publications promoted liberal views and satirized famous politicians leading up to the German revolutions of 1848–49, resul ...

and editor Ferdinand Stolle in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxo ...

in 1853. Their objective was to reach and enlighten the whole family, especially in the German middle classes, with a mixture of current events, essays on the natural sciences, biographical sketches, short stories, poetry, and full-page illustrations.Kirsten Belgum: "Domesticating the Reader: Women and Die Gartenlaube" in: ''Women in German Yearbook 9'' (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1993) p. 93-100 At the height of its popularity ''Die Gartenlaube'' was widely read across the

German speaking world This article details the geographical distribution of speakers of the German language, regardless of the legislative status within the countries where it is spoken. In addition to the German-speaking area (german: Deutscher Sprachraum) in Europe, ...

. It could be found in all German states, the German colonies in Africa and among the significant German-speaking minorities of

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

, such as

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n composer Johann Strauss II even published a waltz dedicated to its readers, with the English title " Gartenlaube Waltz", in 1895. During its 91-year history the journal changed owners several times. By the turn of the century it had become more focused on entertainment, and in the buildup to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

it came under the control of right-wing nationalists. These changes corresponded to a decline in its readership. It was finally purchased outright by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

publishing house

Eher Verlag Franz Eher Nachfolger GmbH (''Franz Eher and Successors, LLC'', usually referred to as the Eher-Verlag (''Eher Publishing'')) was the central publishing house of the Nazi Party and one of the largest book and periodical firms during the Third Rei ...

in 1938, who renamed it ''Die neue Gartenlaube'', and ceased publication in 1944. Despite this, today ''Die Gartenlaube'' remains important for comprehensive historical analysis in many fields and is regarded as an essential source for the understanding of German cultural history.

Circulation and format

Circulation of ''Die Gartenlaube'' increased steadily following its initial 1853 print run of 5,000 copies, reaching 60,000 by the end of its fourth year. After the magazine introduced

serialized novel In literature, a serial is a printing or publishing format by which a single larger Work of art, work, often a work of Narrative, narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as ''numbers'', ...

s, its paid circulation increased dramatically, rising to 160,000 by 1863 and 382,000 by 1875. By comparison, most daily newspapers of the period had a circulation of only 4,000 copies. Since ''Die Gartenlaube'' became common family reading and many lending libraries and cafes took delivery, estimates of actual readership run between two and five million. It kept this market supremacy until at least 1887 and at one time it claimed to have the largest readership of any publication in the world.Michael Minden: ''Modern German Literature'' Cambridge, Polity Press, 2011 pp 67–68 The format of the magazine consisted of 52 weekly issues, 16–20 pages each, in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

size (242mm x 305mm). The text, printed in a

Fraktur Fraktur () is a calligraphic hand of the Latin alphabet and any of several blackletter typefaces derived from this hand. The blackletter lines are broken up; that is, their forms contain many angles when compared to the curves of the Antiqu ...

(''alt Deutsch'') font, was typeset with elaborate

engraved Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

illustrations An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, video ...

and, later, with some photographs. Die Gartenlaube's masthead depicted a grandfatherly figure reading aloud to a family around a table. Between 1853 and 1880 works by prominent German writers such as

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

and Schiller dominated its pages. Goethe was featured 75 times in print and 14 times in illustrations, and Schiller was featured 90 times in print and 15 times in illustrations. Publication of works by novelist

E. Marlitt E. Marlitt is the pseudonym of Eugenie John (December 5, 18251887), a popular German novelist. Biography She was born at Arnstadt. Her father was a portrait painter; her patroness was the , who adopted her in 1841 and sent her to Vienna to s ...

in serial form, such as ''Goldelse'' beginning in 1866, had a significant impact on the magazine's popularity and on Marlitt's celebrity. A particularly famous image by

Willy Stöwer Willy Stöwer (22 May 1864 – 31 May 1931) was a German artist, illustrator and author during the Imperial Period. He is best known for nautical paintings and lithographs. Many of his works depict historical maritime events such as the sink ...

of the sinking of the RMS Titanic was published by the magazine in 1912.

Editorial stages

''Die Gartenlaube'' went through a number of distinct phases throughout its history.

Founding

The early volumes up to German unification in 1871 were envisioned to be a "people's encyclopedia", covering a wide range of interests. Founded by radical liberal publisher

, it was committed to the creation of a national democratic unity government and an enlightened population. The promotion of bourgeois values contrasted with the decline of aristocratic norms. During this period ''Die Gartenlaube'' was also noted for a neutral to positive view of Jews, with occasional articles on Jewish family life. In the years following the founding of the German Empire in 1871, ''Die Gartenlaube'' became increasingly antisemitic, publishing among other things Otto Glagau's violent attacks on "the Jews" from 1874 to 1876. The weekly was also seen as a defender of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n policy. Their dedicated and highly polemical interest in the culture war (proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in his " Dogma of Infallibility" in 1870), came to the defense of the liberal world view. Arguments in support of the National Liberal Party were supported in particular. When Ernst Keil died in 1878 the magazine had reached the height of its success and influence, with a paid circulation of 372,000. Its actual readership was at least 2 million, making it one of the most widely read publications in the world.

Kröner Verlag

In 1886, Keil's widow sold ''Die Gartenlaube'' to new publisher Adolf Kröner and his son Alfred. As co-owner/editors, under their guidance the paper changed dramatically in scope and content. ''Die Gartenlaube'' became increasingly conservative and political or religious issues were no longer covered. The topics of divorce and suicide were entirely taboo after this repositioning. Instead of a popular encyclopedia meant to enlighten and educate, by the turn of the century ''Die Gartenlaube'' was primarily an entertainment paper.

Scherl Verlag

In 1904, ''Die Gartenlaube'' was purchased by entrepreneur and right-wing nationalist

August Scherl August Scherl (24 July 1849 – 18 April 1921) was a German newspaper magnate. Life August Hugo Friedrich Scherl founded a newspaper and publishing concern on 1 October 1883, which from 1900 carried the name August Scherl Verlag. He wa ...

and the tone of the newspaper became increasingly political. In the run up to

, one article stated that the coming war was to be "the happy, great hour of struggle", not only because of German technological advances but because it would be "more beautiful and more magnificent to live forever on the plaque of heroes than to die a hollow death without name in a bed". By buying up numerous other publishers, Scherl's company "Scherl-Verlag" had the largest circulation in Germany. However, his various costly business projects were not economically successful, so he sold the company to the "German Publishers Society" in 1914 and retired.

Hugenberg and Eher Verlag

In 1916 the Scherl-Verlag publishing house was acquired by industrialist

Alfred Hugenberg Alfred Ernst Christian Alexander Hugenberg (19 June 1865 – 12 March 1951) was an influential German businessman and politician. An important figure in nationalist politics in Germany for the first few decades of the twentieth century, Hugenbe ...

. During the interwar period, Hugenberg used his new media empire to help

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

become Chancellor of Germany, hoping to use Hitler as a "tool". Hugenberg instead became increasingly isolated and had little influence in the Third Reich. These changes, as well as ''Die Gartenlaube''s expressly antisemitic articles, resulted in readership declines. Attempts to stem the loss by merging it with similar weeklies had little effect. The largest part of Hugenberg's press group were finally purchased by the

publishing house Eher-Verlag, where the journal was renamed ''Die neue Gartenlaube'' ("The New Garden Arbor") in 1938. A much-diminished ''Gartenlaube'' struggled on, finally folding in 1944.Richard S. Levy: ''Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, Volume 1''

List of major contributors

Christian Wilhelm Allers Christian Wilhelm Allers (6 August 1857 – 19 October 1915) was a German painter and printmaker. Biography Allers, the son of a merchant, was born in Hamburg. He first worked as a lithographer, and in 1877 he moved to Karlsruhe where he c ...

(1857–1915), illustrator *

Alfred Edmund Brehm Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 November 1884) was a German zoologist, writer, director of zoological gardens and the son of Christian Ludwig Brehm, a famous pastor and ornithologist. Through the book title ''Brehms Tierlebe ...

(1829–1884), zoologist and writer (

Brehms Tierleben ''Brehms Tierleben'' (English title: ''Brehm's Animal Life'') is a scientific reference book, first published in the 1860s by Alfred Edmund Brehm (1829–1884). It was one of the first modern popular zoological treatises. First published in ...

) * Elisabeth Bürstenbinder (1838–1918), writer *

Rudolf Cronau Rudolf Daniel Ludwig Cronau (21 January 1855 – 27 October 1939) was a German-American painter, illustrator and journalist. Rudolf Cronau was well known in Germany for his illustrations, articles and books about the American West. Early life ...

(1855–1939), journalist and painter * (1839–1916), chemist and writer * Rudolf Doehn (1821–1894), politician and writer * Fedor Flinzer (1832–1911), writer and illustrator *

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he is best known toda ...

(1819–1898), writer * Ludwig Ganghofer (1855–1920), writer * (1839–1907), illustrator *

Karl Gutzkow Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow ( in Berlin – in Sachsenhausen) was a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century. Life Gutzkow was born of an extremely poor family, not proletarian, but of the lowest and most meni ...

(1811–1878), writer * Edmund Harburger (1846–1906), illustrator * Jakob Christoph Heer (1859–1925), Swiss writer and editor *

Wilhelmine Heimburg Bertha Behrens (7 September 1848, Thale – 9 September 1912) was a German novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are pr ...

(1848–1912), writer * (1826–1878), actor and writer * Georg Hirth (1841–1916), journalist, later publisher in Munich * (1813–1888), permanent employee, 1883–1886 Editor in Chief * Carl Karlweis (1850–1901), columnist * Kaspar Kögler (1838–1923), illustrator, poet * Herbert König (1820–1876), illustrator * Eugenie Marlitt (1825–1887), writer * Charlotte Niese (1854–1935), Holsteinische poet * (1817–1864), writer * Max Ring (1817–1901), doctor and writer *

Anna Ritter Anna Ritter (February 23, 1865 – October 31, 1921) was a German poet and writer. Biography Ritter was born Anna Nuhn in Coburg, Bavaria, (then part of the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) on February 23, 1865, but she was only a young child w ...

(1865–1921), poet * Friedrich Emil Rittershaus (1834–1897), poet *

(1849–1921), publisher * Carl Ludwig Schleich (1859–1922), doctor * (1833–1893), politician and writer *

Levin Schücking Levin Schücking (full name: ''Christoph Bernhard Levin Matthias Schücking''; September 6, 1814 – August 31, 1883) was a German novelist. He was born near Meppen, Kingdom of Prussia, and died in Bad Pyrmont, German Empire. He was the uncle o ...

(1814–1883), writer * (1819–1864), doctor, professor, politician and writer * (1803–1881), writer *

(1864–1931), illustrator *

Moritz Wiggers Moritz Karl Georg Wiggers (October 17, 1816 – July 30, 1894), German politician, started out as a lawyer and a notary in his home town of Rostock. The Revolution of 1848 prompted him to enter public life as a representative to the Mecklenburg ...

(1816–1894), politician and judge

Footnotes

References

Literature

* Alfred Estermann: ''Inhaltsanalytische Bibliographien deutscher Kulturzeitschriften des 19. Jahrhunderts''. Vol. 3, "Die Gartenlaube (1853–1880 ��1944". (München: Saur, 1995) * Heidemarie Gruppe: ''"Volk“ zwischen Politik und Idylle in der "Gartenlaube“ 1853–1914''. Lang, Frankfurt/M. 1976 (''Europäische Hochschulschriften''/19; Vol. 11), * * * Marcus Koch: ''"Nationale Identität im Prozess nationalstaatlicher Orientierung, dargestellt am Beispiel Deutschlands durch die Analyse der Familienzeitschrift "Die Gartenlaube" von 1853–1890''". Lang, Frankfurt/M. 2003 (''Europäische Hochschulschriften''/22; Vol. 389), * Matthias Leupold: ''Künstlerische Bildfolge zum Ideologiegehalt des vielgelesenen Blattes "Leupolds Gartenlaube–Liebhaberaufnahmen in Erinnerung an ein deutsches Familienblatt 1994"''. In ''Die Vergangenheit hat erst begonnen'' (Köln: Schaden Verlag, 2004) * * Anne-Susanne Rischke: ''"Die Lyrik in der "Gartenlaube“ 1853–1903. Untersuchungen zu Thematik, Form und Funktion"''. Lang, Frankfurt/M. 1982 (''Europäische Hochschulschriften''/1; Vol. 516), . * * ''"Sächsische Keilschrift"'', article about ''Die Gartenlaube'' in '' Der Spiegel'', issue 16 / 1963, 17 April 1963, p. 67

External links

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