Jugend (magazine)

Jugend (German: "Youth") (1896–1940) was an influential German arts magazine. Founded in Munich by Georg Hirth who edited it until his death in 1916, the weekly was originally intended to showcase German Arts and Crafts, but became famous for showcasing the German version of Art Nouveau instead. It was also famed for its "shockingly brilliant covers and radical editorial tone" and for its avant-garde influence on German arts and culture for decades, ultimately launching the eponymous Jugendstil ("Youth Style") movement in Munich, Weimar and Germany's Darmstadt Artists' Colony. The magazine, along with several others that launched more or less concurrently, including Pan, Simplicissimus, Dekorative Kunst ("Decorative Art") and Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration ("German Art and Decoration") collectively roused interest among wealthy industrialists and the artistocracy, which further spread interest in Jugendstil from 2D art (graphic design) to 3D art (architecture), as well as more applied art. Germany's gesamtkunstwerk ("synthesized artwork") tradition eventually merged and evolved those interests into the Bauhaus movement. Secession (art) and George Hirth founded the journal in 1896 to launch a new cultural renaissance in Munich. From the start, he intended the magazines to be collectible, and therefore distinct. In the first seven volumes, he featured more than 250 artists, the vast majority unknown. After the First World War, the magazine went out of style with young artists. Among its regular contributors was Bruno Paul. Hirth helmed the magazine for 20 years and died in 1916. Franz Schoenberner was made publisher, and an array of art editors played a role in its cover and illustrations, including Hans E. Hirsch, Theodore Riegler and Wolfgang Petzet, with Fritz von Ostini and Albert Matthew editing the text, and Heinrich Franz Lang serving as photo editor. JugendstilArt Nouveau and Lebensreform As the early arts and crafts ambitions faded and German Art Nouveau took hold of the magazine's aesthetic, iconic imagery of nude youth in idealized nature scenes were depicted more frequently.