Victory Column (magazine)

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Victory Column
Logo of the victory column
description Queer city magazine
language German
publishing company Special Media SDL ( Germany )
Headquarters Berlin
First edition April 1984
Frequency of publication per month
Widespread edition 48,220 copies
( IVW  Q2 / 2019)
Editor-in-chief Jan Noll
executive Director Gudrun Ready , Manuela Kay
Web link siegessaeule.de
Article archive November 2008 ff.
ZDB 88070-x

The Victory Column is Berlin's largest circulation city ​​magazine and has been published monthly with two short interruptions since April 1984. The Victory Column was initially subtitled Berlin's monthly newspaper for gays . In 1996 the content was expanded to include lesbian topics, and since September 2005 the Victory Column has been aimed at a queer target group , making it the only magazine of this size in Europe that is aimed at the entire spectrum of the LGBT community. In the second quarter of 2019, the magazine was published free of charge in 573 locations in Berlin and the circulation was 48,220 copies. Jan Noll has been editor-in-chief of the magazine since the March 2013 issue.

history

On February 29, 1984, the idea for a “ gay city ​​newspaper” was first set down in writing in the minutes of the meeting of Berlin gay groups. It says: “On April 1st, the first issue of the new gay city newspaper published by TBS [Treff Berliner Schwulengruppen] will appear. About the name z. The Victory Column was launched a little later in the premises of the Prinz Eisenherz bookstore in Bülowstrasse , and the magazine's founding meeting finally took place in the SchwuZ premises in Kulmer Strasse. The first edition appeared in an edition of around 1000 issues and cost one mark. It was awarded by the Friends of the Victory Column Association. V. published. The disputes over the name of the publication were settled, and after suggestions such as "Subway", "Pink Panda", "Das Homo" or "Open Legs" had been rejected, an agreement was finally reached on "Victory Column" based on the Berlin monument . Right from the start, the magazine paid particular attention to providing information and reporting on HIV and AIDS .

In December 1985 the Victory Column published a groundbreaking special issue with the title “Aids - The Dimension of an Illness”, in which the current state of research and the socio-political debates arising around the new disease were summarized and prepared by gays for gays. The free magazine, on which Rosa von Praunheim , Matthias Frings , Peter Hedenström, Elmar Kraushaar , Thomas Brüggemann , Eberhard Zastrau and Karl-Heinz Albers collaborated, was financed , among other things, by a grant from the then Berlin CDU Health Senator Ulf Fink .

After the last edition for the time being in September 1989 (at that time at a price of four marks), the Victory Column went up together with the Nuremberg magazine Rosa Flieder in the nationwide gay magazine magnus and appeared in it as a Berlin supplement from November 1990. In addition, it was distributed free of charge to the Berlin scene. The new Victory Column initially had eight pages and listed 216 dates for gays. Micha Schulze and Dirk Evenson expanded the editorial profile, so the volume of the insert grew to 24 pages within a few months.

After a change of publisher due to bankruptcy in 1995, magnus and thus also the Victory Column appeared in Jackwerth Verlag by Cologne journalist Reiner Jackwerth († December 26, 2015). In 1996 the magazine magnus was finally discontinued. The Victory Column celebrated its rebirth, detached from magnus, as an independent city magazine and has since been available on the Berlin scene free of charge and financed by advertisements. The new editor-in-chief, consisting of Manuela Kay (from 1996) and Peter Polzer (from 1997), officially turned the "gay" into a "gay and lesbian city magazine". In the course of the 1990s, the Victory Column developed more and more into a journalistic medium to be taken seriously and became the mouthpiece of the gay and lesbian scene.

Between 2005 and 2008 Holger Wicht was editor-in-chief of the Victory Column and, after a relaunch in September 2005, replaced the term “gay and lesbian” on the cover with the word “queer”. This manifested the magazine's claim to address all people of the LGBT spectrum equally, for the first time directly as part of the Siegessäule brand . An orientation that was continued by the subsequent editor-in-chief Sirko Salka, who headed the magazine from 2008 to 2013. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary, the then Governing Mayor of Berlin , Klaus Wowereit , described the Victory Column in March 2009 as the “journalistic flagship of Berlin's gay and lesbian community”.

In autumn 2012, shortly after the magazine was taken over by the newly founded publishing house Special Media SDL by publishers Gudrun Fertig and Manuela Kay , the Victory Column appeared for the first time with a bilingual program calendar (G / E). The gay and lesbian editors-in-chief Jan Noll and Christina Reinthal, who have been active since the March 2013 issue, gradually expanded the English-language content, and in October 2014 - for the 30th anniversary of the issue - the first appeared under the name "Victory Column - We are queer Berlin" largely bilingual edition of the magazine. Today, Berlin's queer, German-English city magazine is the highest-circulation publication of its kind worldwide.

Jan Noll has been the sole editor-in-chief since the May 2017 issue.

pressure

The Siegessäule magazine reports monthly on queer-relevant topics from the fields of politics , community , urban events, film , music , literature and theater, among others . With around 3000 dates listed per month, the Victory Column offers the most extensive regional program part in a medium of the queer community in Germany. Other free print products from the publisher that are published under the name Siegessäule are the gay and lesbian business directory Siegessäule Kompass . In addition, special issues on the Berlin CSD , the queer film prize Teddy , the World AIDS Day and the Berlin leather and fetish meeting have been published irregularly . In November 2015, the Siegessäule was responsible for the magazine for the gala "Artists against Aids" for the Berlin AIDS organization for the first time .

On-line

Victory Column has had an internet presence since January 1997 , which was expanded in November 2008 by the later publisher Gudrun Fertig to a comprehensive offer with its own editorial team, a constantly updated calendar of events for Berlin and a detailed directory of scene locations. Since a relaunch in April 2013, the appointment calendar can be used in two languages ​​(German and English). At the same time a mobile version of the site was introduced. The editorial team of the Victory Column is responsible for the content and provides the website with the latest articles on a daily basis.

The current Victory Column - Logo existed since the magazine relaunch in October 2014. The selected font was the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the magazine as a throwback to the early days of the Victory Column selected. It is the same font in which the logo was written in 1984, but the letters were set in italics back then .

Actions

  • In the May 2006 issue, the Victory Column mobilized for the Parada Równości in Warsaw to support LGBTs in Poland in their socio-political situation, which was difficult at the time.
  • On various occasions, such as the lesbian and gay city festival in Berlin and in the 2016 monthly Victory Column Lounge, the magazine repeatedly collects donations for queer NGOs and self-help projects such as Queer Amnesty , gay counseling, LesMigraS, MILES or Women in Exile.
  • In April 2016, Victory Column joined the Berlin initiative “Berlin needs us!” Together with the lesbian magazine L-MAG, which is also published by Special Media SDL Verlag . No voice to the blues and browns ”, an amalgamation of queer media, institutions and self-help groups. Under the motto, those involved take an active stand against the AfD and NPD parties .

Prices

  • From 1993 to 2015, the Victory Column awarded the “Else” prize, which was last endowed with 1000 euros, annually at the Berlinale . The Prize of the Victory Column Readers Jury for Queer Films was an official prize of the Berlin International Film Festival.
  • Furthermore, between 2009 and 2014, the Siegessäule organized the Siegessäule drag contest, which takes place annually at Easter in SchwuZ, in which the best drag performer in the capital was chosen.

Events

  • In addition to various large parties in the 1990s and early 2000s ("Spring" party 1997 and the parties with up to 6000 guests in the Arena Berlin Treptow, which were extensively attended for the 15th and 20th anniversary of the magazine in 1999 and 2004) In recent years, the Victory Column has repeatedly held panel discussions and events on relevant topics such as "Lesbian visibility", " Discrimination within the scene" or "Education about hepatitis C".
  • From 2010 to 2013 the Siegessäule organized the “Queer Noises Festival” four times together with the SchwuZ - a platform on which bands from the queer music underground could present themselves to a wider public.
  • For the 30th anniversary of the Victory Column , the exhibition “30 Years Victory Column” was realized in autumn 2014 together with the Schwules Museum * , in which all issues of the magazine ever published could be made accessible to visitors. In addition, selected treasures from the extensive photo archive of the Victory Column , which was given to the gay museum for the opening of the exhibition, were shown.

Discussions

  • In November 2003 the Victory Column published a cover story that dealt with the coming-out of young gays and lesbians in the Turkish-Muslim community. The corresponding cover showed the Turkish flag under the headline “Turks out!” - a play on words with the phrase “Get out of the closet!”, Which is common in the context of the coming-out process and homosexual emancipation. The cover caused violent reactions in the queer and Turkish communities of Berlin.
  • In the May 2006 issue, the Victory Column mobilized for the Parada Równości in Warsaw and showed the cartoon characters Lolek and Bolek in an adapted form: as activists for homosexuality on their cover with the slogan "Poland now - Teraz Polska", from a marketing campaign by the Polish Economy was taken over. The cover caused a sensation in Poland. In addition to several organizations, the citizens' initiative to defend the image of Bolek and Lolek and the owners of the exploitation rights of Lolek and Bolek took the initiative against the image.
  • In the course of the so-called “CSD dispute” of 2014, which split Berlin Pride activities into three different demonstrations, the Victory Column published a satirical article entitled “Which CSD type are you? Victory Column helps you choose the right demo ”. The post sometimes provoked strong reactions in some parts of the Berlin community. In an open letter, for example, the Berlin party organizer, Bob Young, accused the Victory Column of promoting the division of the Berlin scene with this contribution.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Victory Column ivw.eu
  2. ↑ a b Minutes of the TBS from February 10, 1984, Item 12 Common TBS Monthly Info . Archive of the Gay Museum
  3. ↑ Jana Kugoth: The "Victory Column" is turning 30. Der Tagesspiegel, November 15, 2014, accessed on July 1, 2017 .
  4. ^ Meeting of Berlin Gay Groups (ed.): Victory Column . No. 1 . Berlin April 1984, p. 3 .
  5. ↑ World AIDS Day: Guide. siegessaeule.de, December 1, 2015, accessed on July 1, 2017 .
  6. ^ Journalistic flagship . In: Victory Column . Edition 03/2009. Jackwerth Verlag, Berlin, p. 22 .
  7. ↑ Victory Column Archive. In: Victory Column. Retrieved July 1, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Compass website. Special Media SDL, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Victory Column . Imprint. January 1997. Jackwerth Verlag, Berlin, p. 3 .
  10. ↑ Imprint. Victory Column, accessed on August 22, 2017 .
  11. ^ Meeting of Berlin Gay Groups (ed.): Victory Column . No. 1 . Berlin April 1984, p. 1 .
  12. ^ Victory Column (Ed.): Off to Warsaw! May 2006. Berlin, p. 12 .
  13. ↑ Closing ranks. Special Media SDL, accessed August 22, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Berlinale 2015: Our ELSE jury. Victory Column, accessed on July 22, 2017 .
  15. ^ Victory Column Drag Contest: And the Winner is - Maggie Knorr. Victory Column, accessed on August 22, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Hatice wins the Victory Column Drag Contest in SchwuZ. Victory Column, accessed on August 22, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Chandelier Divine Brown is Victory Column Drag Queen 2014. Victory Column, accessed on August 22, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Jan Noll: Where have the lesbians gone? Victory Column, March 18, 2015, accessed on August 22, 2017 .
  19. ↑ 2nd Queer Noises Festival. In: Victory Column. Retrieved August 22, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Christina Reinthal: Birthday present de luxe . In: Victory Column . October 2014. Berlin, p. 13 .
  21. ↑ Turks out! Wom coming out in two cultures . In: Victory Column . November 2003. Berlin, p. 1 .
  22. ↑ As a guest of friends! Berlin supports the Warsaw CSD . In: Victory Column . May 2006. Berlin, p. 1 .
  23. ↑ Which CSD type are you? Victory Column helps you choose the right demo . In: Victory Column . June 2014. Berlin, p. 14 .