On August 27, 1992, the last edition of “Quick” was published. Founded in 1948, the magazine reached, at its peak, a circulation of 1.7 million copies. When it went extinct, sales were at 700,000 copies.” Quick is not a political magazine. Stern, yes, is political, publishes denunciations and takes advantage of political events, while we define ourselves as a classic illustrated magazine, where politics is represented, but does not serve as a label for the publication. The reader of an illustrated book does not want to constantly read political issues, widely covered by television and the newspapers”, stated in 1985 the then editor-in-chief of the publication, Gerd Braun.
With an initial print run of 110,000 copies, the magazine was launched on April 25, 1948, more than a year before the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany, as the first illustrated in the West German sector, dominated by the Allies since the end of the Second World War. War.
The 24-page debut edition featured reports on the Frankfurt Economic Council, the American program for the reconstruction of Europe, the return of exiled playwright Carl Zuckmayer (1896-1977), the death of the Munich-based actor and writer Karl Valentin (1882-1977). 1948) and sports and fashion news. All filled with publicity.
Reviews of Willy Brandt
In the late 1960s and 1970s, the magazine openly criticized Willy Brandt’s social-liberal coalition. The highlight of this campaign was the publication of secret documents by the inter-German detente negotiator, Egon Bahr, amid pornographic photos.
Quick’s readership was relatively young. “We have followed closely the evolution and emancipation of women in the last two decades”, said Braun in 1985. Among other subjects, the magazine published two series of articles with women who intended to divorce or were in extramarital relationships. This kind of sensationalism was a scandal in the 60s and 70s, as the interviewees did not hesitate to reveal intimacies and emotions – including the respective photos.
Quick also convinced sexologist Oswald Kolle to pre-publish his books in the magazine. According to the former editor-in-chief, one of the consequences of this editorial line was that many young German women began to reject steady relationships, increasing the number of singles, who try to reconcile their profession with their love life and freedom.
The apparently progressive, emancipationist – but also sexist – view of the publication contrasted with the right-wing position of the editors. Braun tried to minimize this aspect: “We are liberal-conservatives. We don’t have preferences nor do we have to write this or that because of our conservatism. As a journalist, I feel completely free”, he guaranteed.
Dispute with Stern
This contradiction between liberal tendencies and right-wing political news had a reason. In the 1950s and 1960s, Quick and Stern fought fiercely for dominance of the German magazine market. In its best days, Stern had a weekly circulation of 1.8 million copies, followed by Quick, with 1.7 million. To overcome Stern, identified with leftist positions, Quick opted for a right-wing editorial line.
On August 26, 1992 – the day before the delivery of what would be the last issue, with only 700 thousand copies – the editor Heinrich Bauer surprised his employees with the information that the magazine would stop circulating. He justified the measure with the drop in ad volume by half in the last two years. Thus, it was impossible to maintain “the mother of the illustrated”, acquired by the group in 1966. The reason for the loss of publicity would be the preference of advertisers for electronic media, mainly private television stations.
Ironically, Bauer, an outspoken sympathizer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), became a victim of that party’s commitment to the introduction of commercial television in Germany. Personally, the editor invested the approximately 20 million dollars from the sale of his magazine in the acquisition of 24% of the shares of the private TV channel RTL.
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