Verlag Langewiesche – Wikipedia

The Verlag Langewiesche successor (complete Karl Robert Langewiesche successor Hans Köster Verlagsbuchhandlung KG ) is one of the oldest still independent publishers in Germany based in Königstein in the Taunus in the Hochtaunuskreis in Hesse. The most famous publications of the publisher are The blue books . ^{[first] [2]}

This publisher should not be confused with the founder of the founder of the founder Karl Robert Langewiesche, Wilhelm Langiiesche, under the name Langewiesche-Brandt in 1906.

On May 5, 1902, Karl Robert Langewiesche (1874–1931) founded his publisher in Düsseldorf with the aim of producing “elegant mass items at the lowest prices” in order to “especially the broad masses, which are called the uneducated To be able to serve work ”. This concept quickly became successful, not least thanks to Langewiesches advanced marketing methods (he is considered the inventor of the shop window plasticat for books and the – with advertising texts on the envelope – “advertising dust jacket”). ^[3]

First of all, his books devoted themselves to the topics of life and worldview. In 1907 he created the group of art books and photo book volumes, for which he developed the new type of cheap, first -class illustrated book in 1907. From 1909 he used the brand name The blue books , after his books had been equipped with blue protective extensions since 1902, on which – 1902 a novelty in the industry – advertising texts were printed. Karl Köster shaped the appearance of this popular series by a classic-dark design that conveyed an upscale claim and corresponded to the goals of the German Werkbund; Köster worked as a book designer for the publisher from 1911 to 1958. ^{[2] [4]}

In 1913 Langewiesche moved to Königstein in Taunus. For the 25th anniversary of the publishing house in 1927, he founded the even cheaper series of books under the motto “The good for everyone” The iron hammer (Renamed 1949 into Langewiesche library ) with red dumps.

After the death of the founder in 1931, the publisher was from its widow, Stefanie Langewiesche (1878-1956), continued, assisted by His queues (1902–1996), which had been with the publisher since 1927. In 1954 he became a co -owner and designated successor. In 1973 Hans Köster handed over the publisher to his eldest son, Hans-Curt Köster (* 1939), but still looked after the series of topics of the building monographs he built until 1986.

Since 1971, Königstein, mostly in an international co-edition, also published art books outside of the two rows The blue books and Langewiesche library , also from 1976 mural calendar with pictures of the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853–1919).

Thanks to its fully preserved archive, the publisher was always the subject of scientific studies. On the occasion of its 100th anniversary in 2002, the publisher published its full history of publishing, including the time of National Socialism, which was inaccurate for him.

The founder of the publisher, Karl Robert Langewiesche, had the goal of achieving wide layers of the population with “elegant mass items at low prices”. With the focus of art, architecture, photography, as well as local animals and plants, they appear Blue books With the typical dark blue dust jacket. By 1912, 75,000 blue books had been sold in three editions, with the largest largely coming from the education bourgeoisie. From 1907 the illustrated book series was published The world of beautiful . The series The iron hammer was published in the red protective extensions on 1927 and was even cheaper than the blue books. Numerous publications appeared in the time of National Socialism that, from today’s perspective, had National Socialist tendencies. From 1960 the focus of the publisher in the areas of art, architecture, design, photography and cultural history was to be located. In 2002, an illustrated overall directory of all publications from 100 years appeared in 2002. ^{[2] [first]}

Selection from the overall directory of Blue Books: ^[5]

• Cecilia Lengefeld: The painter of the happy home. To the reception of Carl Larssons in Wilhelmine Germany . Heidelberg 1993.
• Rosemarie Wasp: The author and his producer – the story of four blue books. In: Gerd Kuhn (ed.): Context. Walter Müller-Wulckow and the German Architecture from 1900–1930 . Langewiesche, Königstein im Taunus 1999, pp. 13–46, ISBN 3-7845-8042-4.
• Gabriels golden: The world of beautiful – a hundred -year history of publishing in Germany: The Blue Books 1902-2002 (with a bibliography 1902-2002). Langewiesche, Königstein im Taunus 2002, 252 pages, 268 SW-Fig., 21 × 14.8 cm, paperback, ISBN 3-7845-3570-4.
• Michael Ponstingl: Homeland protection and art education: The illustrated book series of the publisher Karl Robert Langewiesche (1904–1960) . In: Monika Faber, Klaus Albrecht Schröder (ed.): The eye and the apparatus. A history of photography from the Albertina collections . Éditions du Seuil, Paris / Albertina, Wien 2003, S. 202–223, ISBN 2-02-060452-3.
• Michael Ponstingl: The LANGEWIESCHE-VERLAG-scenes of an archive . in: Radio photography. Collect – preserve – develop – mediate . 10, Issue 2 (N.F. 38), 15, June 2003, pp. 28–35.
• Michael Ponstingl: Re / Toure, Huge Labewiious! in: Photo history. Contributions to the history and aesthetics of photography . Jg. 25, Heft 98, 2005, S. 93–96.
• Katrin Völkner: Culture consumption and consumption culture. Karl Robert Langewiesche’s Subject Book series “The Blue Books” at the beginning of the 20th century . In: Andy Hahnemann, David Oels (ed.): Non -fiction book and popular knowledge in the 20th century. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 2008, S. 137–147, ISBN 978-3-631-56132-4.
• Britta Fritze: The blue books. A national architectural biography? , Berlin (Lukas Verlag) 2014 (Zug. Techn. Univ. Darmstadt 2012, university dial D17), ISBN 978-3-86732-181-5.

1. ↑ ^{a b} Blue books German National Library, called on November 10, 2022
2. ↑ ^{a b c} “The world of beautiful” a hundred -year publishing history in Germany: The Blue Books 1902 – 2002 Verlag Langewiesche, called on November 10, 2022
3. ↑ Ursula Rautenberg (Hrsg.): Sachlexikon des Buchas Claims . Reclam, Stuttgart 2015, S. 362–363 .
4. ↑ Sandra Conradt: The “blue books” and the “iron hammer” . Göttings 1999; Gabriels golden: The world of beautiful , Königstein i. Ts. 2002
5. ↑ Total directory. Blue books Verlag Langewiesche, called on November 10, 2022