Swiss art guide

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The Swiss Art Guides are scientific publications on Swiss art monuments . So far 1000 titles with a total circulation of five million copies have been published.

history

The Society for Swiss Art History, founded in 1880, has been documenting, researching and mediating since 1880GSK preserves Switzerland's architectural heritage and contributes to its long-term preservation. In 1935, this society agreed to the “fundamental decision” to create “series of short, artistically and scientifically oriented guides on our most important cultural monuments”. It is already noted in the founding files of the GSK that the publications are intended to help «broaden the sense of historical art». The aim was therefore to publish art guides “in large numbers and at very cheap prices”, with “good illustrations and an easily understandable but scientifically flawless text”. Between 1936 and 1951, ten publications called “Little Guides” were published, each of which had only eight pages, but had often already been translated into “other languages”. The individual editions, which appeared irregularly, were not yet numbered at that time and appeared without giving the year. Since these first ten guides were published under the name “Little Guides”, they are not yet included in the publication series of the Swiss Art Guides.

The first ten guides were created on the initiative and under the direction of the art historian Paul Ganz (1872–1954) and were dedicated to the following buildings: The cathedral of Bern (1937), the cathedral of Basel (1938), the cathedrals of Geneva (1937), Lausanne (1938) and Friborg (1940), the churches Romainmôtier (1937), St. Urban and Spiez, the town hall of Basel (1940) and the Cluniac monastery complex of Rüggisberg. Reprints of these "Little Guides" were still published in 1952. In 1953, the Society for Swiss Art History (GSK) continued the series of so-called “Little Guides” - but now under the title “Swiss Art Guides”. This new title was intended to «clearly express that [the] society was concerned with increasing the awareness of individual local art monuments». The “brochures” were provided with numerous illustrations. The reason for the restart of the series was recorded in the minutes that there were "many and inexpensive opportunities" to "even visit remote monuments by car or train: the Swiss art guides should invite our members and all art lovers to interesting excursions".

According to the GSK nomenclature, the first leader (number zero) in the series of publications of the Swiss art guides, "Das Cluniazenserpriorat Rüeggisberg", was written by the art historian and later President of the Society for Swiss Art History, Hans Robert Hahnloser.

In 1953 it was also determined that the art guides should appear in series. In addition, it was stipulated that the art guides should also be sold "individually on the spot" to non-members. The Society for Swiss Art History continues to sell to members in series as well as direct sales on site.

From 1954 to 1964 a second series of Swiss Art Guides was published with Series I to VI of 10 guides each. The editor in charge at this time was Ernst Murbach.

In 1970 the first hundred of the guides were complete: "La Rose de la cathédrale de Lausanne", written by Ernst Murbach, made up the number 100. In that year, the first art guide in Italian was also created: "San Pietro, Castel San Pietro", written by Gaëtan Cassina. "The editors were justifiably proud of the fact that around 1.2 million copies had already been printed," says the "newsletter for members of the Society for Swiss Art History".

In 1981 the editorial team gave up the “Basel office” and moved to Bern.

In 1986 the 40th series of Swiss Art Guides was created, d. H. the 400th leader. Five years later, in 1991, the 500th Swiss Art Guide appeared in the 50th series. This was dedicated to the “Université de Lausanne à Dorigny”, already comprised 40 pages and was printed with a print run of 3,000.

Today between 15 and 20 art guides are published in two series per year. These can be purchased by subscription or individually on site, on the Internet or in bookshops. A broad range of topics is worked out in each series - from sacred buildings to castles and museums, school buildings and local guides.

In 2015, the GSK launched the first digital art guide dedicated to the Sacro Monte Madonna del Sasso in Orselina (at that time a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage Site). This was presented at the Expo 2015 in Milano. Six digital art guides have now been published (as of 3/2016).

The Martinskirche in Zillis is one of the most popular art guides: presented for the first time in 1954, the 16th edition was printed in 1984 (although the number of copies in the first 1980s was always 10,000). The last edited version appeared in 2008. This guide to the Martinskirche alone has reached a single edition of half a million.

An art guide has been published every 29 days on average since 1936.

Topics and content

The Swiss art guides present the architecturally relevant cultural monuments of the country. Leading experts convey Switzerland's architectural heritage in a language that is understandable for laypeople. At the beginning (1936–1953) the focus was on the large cathedrals and monasteries. Only one monument or “sight” was deliberately dealt with per publication. After the middle of the 20th century, the range of topics expanded: From then on, the leaders devoted themselves to cathedrals, ministers, churches, monasteries, castles, town halls, government and parliament buildings, council and town halls, private seats, guild houses, cultural and educational institutions (including universities, colleges and museums), industrial buildings and monuments as well as historical vehicles such as paddle steamers or railways. The timeframe extends from the first traces of settlement to the current time. The contents reflect the current state of research. Often new research aspects and findings are incorporated.

Format and scope

The format of the Swiss Art Guide was never larger than A5. In 1953 the dimensions were set at 21 × 14 cm (A5). In 1972 the height and width were reduced by one centimeter, and since 1992 the guides have again been 21 × 14 cm. The Swiss art guides have an average of 44 pages. The first ten so-called "Little Guides" were only eight pages long. In 1958, 8-, 12- and 16-page guides appeared. Today the thinnest guides are a minimum of 24 pages, the thickest 88 pages. Particularly extensive art guides are published as double issues.

financing

Since 1972, the quaestor and the board of directors of the Society for Swiss Art History (GSK) have been demanding that the Swiss art guides should become self-supporting: However, this only really succeeded seven years later. In 1983 it was recorded in the minutes of the committee: "The Swiss Art Guides are self-supporting in the composition of the scientific editor and editorial secretary, even profitable if intensive sales and large editions can be expected". Today the editors of the Swiss Art Guide write a “black zero”, i. H. the personnel and expenditure costs are refinanced through the project orders and the sales of the art guides.

Languages ​​/ translations

The first ten “Little Guides” from 1936 to 1951 had often already been translated into “other languages”. When the 50th series with the 500th Swiss Art Guide appeared in 1991, guides were published in German, French, Italian, English, Spanish, Swedish and Romansh. Today there are also two art guides in Japanese and Chinese. In 2015, six publications appeared in a total of eleven translations.

Authors

The Swiss art guides are generally in cooperation with local authorities, i. H. usually published with the property owners, who then take care of the sale on the spot. The leading experts among art historians are engaged as authors. The editing of the art guides is carried out without exception by the editing of the Swiss art guides within the Society for Swiss Art History GSK, which works together with a network of specialists from research and monument preservation.

Number of copies

As early as 1960, the Swiss art guides exceeded half a million copies. In 1970 around 1.2 million copies had already been printed. Today the Swiss Art Guides exist with a total circulation of five million copies.

Editor in chief

  1. Paul Ganz (1936–1951; † 1954)
  2. Ernst Murbach (1954–1980) with Erika Erni (197–1977) as half-day editor, Dorothee Huber (1978) as half-day editor and, finally, Jürg A. Bossard (August 1978 - January 1981) as half-day editor (the latter from January 1980 - January 1981) : 100%)
  3. Hans Maurer (1981 - December 1983)
  4. Susanne Ritter-Lutz (January 1984 - July 1986) as chief editor-in-chief (80%) with Stefan Biffiger as co-editor and Gurli Jensen as editorial assistant
  5. Werner Bieri (August 1986 - December 2011) with Susanne Ritter-Lutz (October 2009 to March 2011) as half-day editor (55%)
  6. Markus Andrea Schneider (since January 2012)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Our art monuments, newsletter for the members of the Society for Swiss Art History, 50 Years of Swiss Art Guides, 1986, p. 314. (No longer available online.) 1986, archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; Retrieved April 12, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / selfranga-dev01.ethz.ch
  2. ^ Report and statistics on the development and performance of society, 1880–1964, edited by Max Wassmer, p. 166
  3. ^ Paul Ganz estate. (PDF) Zurich Central Library, accessed on April 12, 2016 .
  4. ^ Our art monuments, newsletter for the members of the Society for Swiss Art History, 1953, p. 32. 1953, accessed on April 12, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Angelius Eisinger, Hansjörg Siegenthaler: On the history of the impact of motorized individual transport in Switzerland in the 20th century, p. 96: Mobilized individual transport in Switzerland did not develop significantly until after the Second World War. The Swiss Statistical Yearbook for 1953 showed 211,140 private cars at that time. 2008, accessed April 12, 2016 .
  6. ^ Our art monuments, newsletter for the members of the Society for Swiss Art History, 1953, p. 32. 1953, accessed on April 12, 2016 .
  7. ^ Report and statistics on the development and performance of society, 1880–1964, edited by Max Wassmer, p. 12
  8. ^ Our art monuments, newsletter for the members of the Society for Swiss Art History, 1986, p. 314. (No longer available online.) 1986, archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; Retrieved April 12, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / selfranga-dev01.ethz.ch
  9. ↑ eBooks. April 14, 2016, accessed April 14, 2016 .
  10. ^ Report and statistics on the development and performance of society, 1880–1964, edited by Max Wassmer, p. 166
  11. ↑ Our art monuments, newsletter for the members of the Society for Swiss Art History, 50 Years of Swiss Art Guides, 1986, p. 314. (No longer available online.) 1986, archived from the original on April 14, 2016 ; Retrieved April 12, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / selfranga-dev01.ethz.ch
  12. ↑ New person responsible for the series of Swiss art guides. reticulum, January 10, 2012, accessed April 12, 2016 .