(; ) was the first successful mass-circulation

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also 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 Germans, German bookseller, journalist, editor and publisher. His early publications promoted liberal views and satirized famous politicians leading up to the German revolutions of 1848� ...

and editor Ferdinand Stolle in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony () was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of the Electorate of Saxony. It joined the Confederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, later joining the German ...

, 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 was widely read across the German-speaking world. 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 is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, such as

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n composer

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

it came under the control of right-wing nationalists with

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 during the first three decades of the twentieth century, ...

since 1916. These changes corresponded to a decline in its readership. It was finally purchased outright by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

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 Nazi regi ...

in 1938, who renamed it ''Die neue Gartenlaube'', and ceased publication in 1944. Despite this, today 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 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, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as ''numbers'', ''parts'', ''fascicu ...

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 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. It is designed such that the beginnings and ends of the individual strokes that make up each letter will be clearly vis ...

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

engraved Engraving is the practice of incising a design on 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 inta ...

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

and, later, with some photographs. '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 polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

and

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

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, 1825-June 22, 1887), a popular Germans, German novelist.Marlitt, Eugenie (1825-1887), Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through The Ages, edited by Anne Commire and Deborah Kiezm ...

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 Germans, German artist, illustrator, and author during the German Empire, Imperial Period. He is best known for Marine art, nautical paintings and lithographs. Many of his works depict historica ...

of the

sinking of the RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' sank on 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, ''Titanic'' was four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, USA with an estimated 2,224 peo ...

was published by the magazine in 1912.

Editorial stages

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 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 The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1871, 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: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n policy. Their dedicated and highly polemical interest in the culture war (proclaimed by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

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 to new publisher Adolf Kröner and his son Alfred. As co-owner/editors, under their guidance the paper changed dramatically in scope and content. 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 was primarily an entertainment paper.

Scherl Verlag

In 1904, was purchased by entrepreneur and right-wing nationalist August Scherl 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

. During the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, Hugenberg used his new media empire to help

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

become

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government 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 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 (1829–1884), zoologist and writer ( Brehms Tierleben) * Elisabeth Bürstenbinder (1838–1918), writer * Rudolf Cronau (1855–1939), journalist and painter * (1839–1916), chemist and writer *

Rudolf Doehn Rudolf Doehn (2 February 1821, Woldegk, Hinrichshagen – 9 April 1895, Dresden) was a German writer and journalist. He belonged to the Forty-Eighters who participated in the American Civil War as volunteers in the Union Army. Here, he became als ...

(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 Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...

(1819–1898), writer *

Ludwig Ganghofer Ludwig Ganghofer (7 July 1855 – 24 July 1920) was a German writer. He has been called the "most-adapted author in the history of German cinema", as many of his novels were turned into films. Biography Ganghofer was born in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, ...

(1855–1920), writer * (1839–1907), illustrator * Karl Gutzkow (1811–1878), writer * Edmund Harburger (1846–1906), illustrator * Jakob Christoph Heer (1859–1925), Swiss writer and editor * Wilhelmine Heimburg (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 (1865–1921), poet * Friedrich Emil Rittershaus (1834–1897), poet * August Scherl (1849–1921), publisher * Carl Ludwig Schleich (1859–1922), doctor * (1833–1893), politician and writer * Levin Schücking (1814–1883), writer * Berthold Sigismund (1819–1864), doctor, professor, politician and writer * (1803–1881), writer *

(1864–1931), illustrator * Moritz Wiggers (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 in , issue 16 / 1963, 17 April 1963, p. 67

External links

Microfiche Edition
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