„Die Welt steht mir offen“

Zusammenfassung

In 1944 a new magazine for children and youths, called Jugendwoche, was published in Zurich. It was designed by the Swiss artist Warja Lavater-Honegger (1913–2007), who is well known today for her pictographic folded books. Lavater worked for the magazine, which was addressed to readers aged seven to fifteen, until 1958. She forged its image in her taste and artistic style, and gave it her ethos of teaching peace and international understanding. Its content, which featured entertaining and informative articles on technology, nature, travelling, and sports, as well as riddles, handicraft instructions, serial stories, and drawing competitions, also communicated political ideas, especially in the form of signets and the iconic pathos formula. From its first issue, the theme of internationality was realized via images and texts. In April 1955 the magazine dedicated a whole issue to the international educational work of UNESCO. But it also concerned itself with national political education. This theme appeared in extensive reports about historical and contemporary political events, and about the functions and tools of direct democracy in Switzerland. By 1958, the magazine had taken an explicit progressive political position. A strong visual design accompanied the text, which advocated votes for women, opposition to racism, and humanitarianism. This was all the more remarkable because its progressive politics occurred during the time of the Cold War and a period of national conservatism.

Ich habe mich nie für etwas anderes interessiert

als für den Menschen

Warja Lavater