Die Woche Berlin 1899 – 1944
Moderne illustrierte Zeitschrift
(Illustrated Periodicals ; 7)
110,000 pages on 1,444 microfiches, ISBN 3-89131-400-0, 2003
Diazo (negative) EUR 6,500.– / Silber (positive) EUR 7,800.–
Shortly before the turn of the century, in 1899, the publishing house Scherl started a new journalistic enterprise which focused on photographic reports.
According to the company's pamphlet the periodical intended to relieve the already »very busy people of the time-consuming and troublesome work« of reading several papers. It saw itself as a »valuable completion to the daily press«.
Without setting as high a standard of education as, for example,
Westermanns Monatshefte
did, and without the influence on the
zeitgeist
which
Jugend
had,
Die Woche
was able to solely dedicate itself to current daily affairs.
The picture material clearly was at the center of the periodical's attention. However, the editorial staff also attached great importance to closely combining pictures and articles. Only the «Pictures of the Day» stood for themselves and were accompanied by a one-line caption or a short text at best.
Under the heading «Die sieben Tage der Woche» (The Seven Days of the Week) every fourty-page issue started with a short review of the news, mainly concerning politics. In all, more than one fourth of each issue was taken up by fixed sections. Among them were: «Berliner Notizbuch» (Berlin Notebook), «Theater und Musik» (Theater and Music), «Die Börsenwoche» (The weekly Stock Exchange), «Die Toten der Woche» (The Deceased of the Week), «Was die Ärzte sagen» (What Doctors Say), «Was die Richter sagen» (What Judges Say), «Modelaunen» (Moods of Fashion), «Winke für unsere Frauen» (Tips for our Women), «Politische Satire in Wort und Bild» (Political Satire in Word and Picture), and «Bilder aus aller Welt» (Pictures from all over the World).
These fixed sections were interrupted only by serial novels and by literary sketches. Reports on the weekly affairs and on the present life took up events of the society, science, art, sports, and business.
A high value was also set on international reporting, limited not only to political questions but also covering all cultural and social aspects.
Die Woche
appeared without interruption up until 1944, when it had to be given up because of war circumstances.