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Wiesbaden international - Magazine of the state capital

The title of the magazine was the program. Wiesbaden was to be presented in its transnational significance as a cosmopolitan spa town, as the venue for the International May Festival, exhibitions, trade fairs and as an up-and-coming economic center in the Rhine-Main region. Against the backdrop of the political and social upheaval of the 1960s, this idea of dedication was put into practice with the magazine from 1969 onwards. One issue was published each quarter, edited by the head of the press office Erik Emig. The cultural and art historian Dr. Alexander Hildebrand was a permanent freelance editor and author.

Wiesbaden international
Wiesbaden international

The clear, generous typographic design and progressive layout indirectly echoed the ideas of the Bauhaus. In addition to the broad range of topics, each issue featured three fixed sections: "The Portrait", which presented, for example, the newly appointed theater directors or museum directors, "Wiesbaden Literary", where texts by forgotten writers or writers ostracized during the "Third Reich" were published, and "In Wiesbaden Notated", where relevant events were reported in short news items. In addition, contemporary issues were discussed, such as the protection of historical monuments and the architectural appearance of the city through the ages.

Hildebrand also shed light on other facets of past and present cultural life in Wiesbaden, for example in his articles on the painters Otto Ritschl and Ludwig Knaus, the art collectors Heinrich Kirchhoff and Wilhelm Uhde (1874-1947) and the educationalist Johannes Maaß. The current art scene was also given appropriate consideration. Russian and Bulgarian festival weeks triggered an urban culture of discussion, which was a recurring theme throughout the cultural journal, as well as issues of current affairs and economic life.

The end of the journal in 1985 for financial reasons left a vacuum.

Literature

Hildebrand, Martin: Zur Geschichte der Kulturpublizistik in Wiesbaden, forthcoming.

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Explanations and notes

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