The observer on the Elbe
The Observer on the Elbe was an entertainment magazine published in the 19th century by the Dresden publishing house HG Münchmeyer , which published stories , short stories and novels in sequels.
history
The observer on the Elbe was published with the subtitle Unterhaltungsblätter für Jedermann from Christmas 1873 (issue no. 1), officially from the beginning of January 1874 in the Dresden publishing house HG Münchmeyer. A total of 53 issues were published in the first year of publication, each of which was presented on Saturday. Initially, the editor was Otto Freitag, and after his falling out with the publisher, Karl May, who was still unknown at the time .
The second year was also designed for 52 issues, which appeared weekly from January 1875 and twice weekly from the end of April 1875. In addition to the Dresden edition, the publisher had the magazine u. a. also sell under the titles Observer on the Spree , Observer on the Saale , Observer on the Bober , Hannoverscher Familienfreund and Pommerscher Familienfreund , whereby these hardly differed in content. In total there were at least 15 parallel editions of the magazine. With the 52nd issue, the observer on the Elbe was discontinued and continued as a German family paper from September 1875 .
Since 2003, a magazine of the Karl May Museum in Radebeul has been published twice a year under the title The Observer on the Elbe .
concept
The magazine was published by the Dresden publisher Heinrich Gotthold Münchmeyer , who, with up to 120 titles, was one of the best-selling publishers of Kolporta novels in Germany. Following the example of the gazebo , he had entertainment literature printed in sequels in order to enable poorer classes to acquire literature. The purchase price was divided into smaller weekly installments and was therefore more affordable.
Authors were mostly young and as yet unknown writers. One of these was Rudolf Kürbis , who, under the pseudonym Rudolf Wellnau, published the novella "Silber-Röschen" in "Observer" in 1875. On March 8, 1875, Karl May succeeded the dismissed editor Otto Freitag. He himself wrote the novella "Wanda" (2nd year, nos. 26–35 and 38-44) and the adventure story "Der Gitano" (2nd year, no. 52) for the magazine .
May also suggested changing the magazine title in order to be able to sell it better nationwide:
"Since our paper has spread across all regions of Germany at an unexpectedly rapid rate, and as a result of which its current title no longer proves to be indicative, the publishing house feels compelled to publish it under the name of› Deutsches Familienblatt ‹at the beginning of the next year allow."
literature
- Christian Heermann: The observer on the Elbe - a colorful leaf in the great forest of leaves , in: Dresdner Latest News, October 29, 2012
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b History of the magazine - accessed on February 16, 2013
- ^ Website of the magazine of the Karl May Museum - accessed on February 16, 2013
- ↑ a b Karl May: individual stories