Art history city books
City Books of Art History was the title of a series of books published by EA Seemann- Verlag in Leipzig .
History and purpose
In 1959 the Seemann-Verlag published a small paperback book about Görlitz , which was to mark the beginning of a new series of books . The task of this series was to “describe the art history of individual cities in the GDR as well as of tourist destinations.” According to the publisher, the books “should convey a vivid picture of the history of the place and its artistic expression in connection with the general art-historical development and in the context of the respective social conditions. Both the entire city layout, the buildings, parks, sculptures, but also important works of art in museums and churches ”should be taken into account. A "special attention" was given to "the already completed and planned construction companies in the sense of a socialist redesign and a hygienic, technical and traffic-wise improved development of the settlement system." Initially still nameless, the series was only given with the publication of a volume about the city of Tangermünde in 1965 the title Kunstgeschichtliche Städtebücher , which from now on appeared on the header . In terms of content, it tied in with the series Famous Art Places previously edited by the same publisher , the last edition of which about Hanau was published in 1951. With a volume on the city of Dresden , the art history city books , some of which had appeared in several editions, were discontinued in 1991. Then the publisher tried to revive the famous art venues , but did not succeed. Only three volumes came out (on Schwerin , Weimar and Güstrow ), of which the one on the city of Schwerin was merely a new edition of the book that had already appeared in the series of art history city books.
Design and structure of the volumes
As a travel companion, the editions were in a handy pocket book format and were provided with numerous black and white illustrations and floor plans. The texts, mostly written by art historians and structured according to style epochs, have been supplemented by a detailed bibliography . Initially equipped with a flexible colored plastic cover, later cardboard covers became common, which usually had a dust jacket .
Published editions
- Altenburg by Ernst Walter Huth (1st edition 1981)
- Bautzen by Friedrich Reichel (1961)
- Budapest by Lázló Gerö (1966)
- Dresden by Heinz Quinger (1991)
- Görlitz by Ernst-Heinz Lemper (1st edition 1959, 2nd edition 1965, 3rd edition 1972, 4th edition 1980, 5th edition 1987)
- Halberstadt by Horst Scholke (1st edition 1974, 2nd edition 1977, 3rd edition 1982)
- Halle an der Saale by Hans-Joachim Mrusek (1961, 1964, 1976)
- Leipzig by Wolfgang Hocquél (1st edition 1983, 2nd edition 1985, 3rd edition 1990)
- Leningrad by Gerhard Hallmann (1967, 1975, 1978)
- Magdeburg by Hans-Joachim Mrusek (1959, 2nd edition 1966)
- Meissen by Arndt Reichel (1964)
- Merseburg by Hans-Joachim Mrusek (1962)
- Mühlhausen by Gerhard Günther and Winfried Korf (1986, 2nd edition 1989)
- Parks and Gardens of the GDR by Hermann Schüttauf (1st edition 1969, 2nd edition 1973)
- Rheinsberg by Hans-Günter Kupsch (1960)
- Rostock by Walter Ohle (1970)
- Schwerin by Walter Ohle and Horst Ende (1984, 2nd edition 1988)
- Schwerin-Ludwigslust by Walter Ohle (1960)
- Stendal by Hannelore Sachs (1967)
- Stralsund by Heinrich Trost (1st edition 1973, 2nd edition 1979)
- Tangermünde by Heinrich Trost (1965)