the new line
The new line was the name of the first German lifestyle magazine, which was published between 1929 and 1943 by the Leipzig publishing house Otto Beyer and - at the time - offered a radically new concept. The paper paid homage to the new, sophisticated way of life and, in addition to fashion and literature, focused on trends in the areas of travel, technology and architecture - especially from the Bauhaus perspective. It was aimed primarily at the intellectual and fashion-conscious upper class, but especially at women. The elaborate concept of the illustrated magazines, whose editorial office was based in Berlin and was created by Bauhaus artists , and the proud price of one Reichsmark meant that the paper had to be cross-financed by the publisher; it was considered a prestige object of the publisher. A total of 163 issues appeared, each with a print run of 40,000 copies.
The first edition
When the magazine appeared at the kiosk in September 1929 as the successor to a discontinued fashion magazine, it caused a sensation with its appearance. Even the lowercase title in bare letters instead of the staid cursive font was unusual, as was the design of the text, which was set in the sans serif universal font developed by the Bauhaus artist Herbert Bayer . In addition to Bayer, the artist and former Bauhaus teacher László Moholy-Nagy shaped the appearance with his lavish montages of black and white photos and colored areas.
The title of the first edition is adorned by a woman in a fashionable coat and in the stylized ambience of modern architecture, with her back to the beholder looking through a window at a wintry mountain landscape. In terms of content, the magazine u. a. Views by the architect Walter Gropius , design studies by Marcel Breuer and costume designs by László Moholy-Nagy.
Time during National Socialism
Despite the takeover by the National Socialists and the associated media synchronization in 1933, the apolitical paper enjoyed the favor of the National Socialists. The rulers initially wanted to suggest an open, diverse cultural policy, but later switched to changing the content “creeping” until, during the war years, almost exclusively German products and ideals were described. In the April 1937 edition, for example, the then President of the Reichsschrifttumskammer (RSK), Hanns Johst, was shown in military uniform next to his wife and then followed a general trend towards nationalism.
Herbert Bayer , who had created 26 covers for the magazine, emigrated to the United States in 1938 out of anger about his limited creative possibilities and the "low level dictated by Hitler", so that the magazine lost an important employee. From 1939 onwards, almost only German travel destinations were mentioned in the new line , later exclusively German products, until the paper completely degenerated into the fulfillment of Nazi policy and was discontinued in March 1943 due to a lack of paper.
literature
- bauhaus-archiv, museum for design with text contributions by Patrick Rössler : The new line 1929 - 1943 The Bauhaus at the kiosk . Catalog for the exhibition in the Bauhaus Archive, Kerber Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86678-024-8
Web links
- Title page design for "the new line" on www.bauhaus100.de