Sactor Elyas M´Barek, who says to the interviewer: “This topic does not mean anything to me, sorry”; Model Larissa Hofmann, who finds out during the fashion shoot that the stylist has forgotten her shoes; the former submarine commander Rudolf Arendt, who is introduced as the “subway commander”: The readers of the FAZ magazine not only enjoy great stories, but sometimes also bankruptcies, bad luck and breakdowns.
In the current issue, which accompanies the FAZ this Saturday (and can be purchased online here), the editors recall the loveliest and weirdest moments from the history of the magazine. Because it’s an anniversary issue: ten years ago, in February 2013, the “new” FAZ-Magazine appeared for the first time – with Jessica Joffe, the daughter of “Zeit” editor Josef Joffe, on the cover; this little greeting from Frankfurt to Hamburg is also remembered in the current issue.
In the February issue – with Toni Garrn in a large fashion spread and on the cover – the editors remember not only mishaps but also strange stories. For example, a volunteer bought all the slides and films of the Hessian television entertainer Heinz Schenk at an estate auction. Incidentally, after printing a few holiday photos from the collection, which filled a trunk, the magazine returned the photographic estate to Schenk’s actual place of work, the Hessischer Rundfunk. The legacy of the Bembel rescuer is possibly even better maintained there.
Large research project on looted art
The largest research project in particular became politically relevant. For this purpose, FAZ editor Maria Wiesner spent weeks in 2017 with international colleagues on the trail of looted art. At the Metropolitan Museum in New York, a former curator asked why bother with such a dull subject as the Benin Bronzes. Wiesner found the answer in Benin City in what is now Nigeria: because the bronzes had been stolen by the British colonial rulers and were finally to be returned to Africa. The long reportage in the magazine was followed by a wave of international reporting and finally, after half a decade, political decisions. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth returned 20 bronzes to their place of origin during a visit to Nigeria before Christmas.
The magazine is a child of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Editors from all departments such as Timo Frasch (interviews), Jennifer Wiebking (fashion), Peter-Philipp Schmitt (design), Bernd Steinle (travel), Johanna Dürrholz (pop music), Jakob Strobel y Serra (food) and Daniel Deckers (wine) write for the supplement. Unlike its weekly predecessor, which was discontinued in 1999, the magazine is published monthly, always on the second Saturday of the month, as well as some out-of-series special issues. Among the cover characters were unknowns such as a polyamorous residential group, a Spanish bullfighter or a Frankfurt parkour athlete – but also celebrities such as Lena Meyer-Landrut, Diane Kruger, Leroy Sané, Will.i.am, Harald Schmidt, Pharrell Williams, Farah Diba, Mark Forster, Mario Götze, Lang Lang, Loredana and Heino. (All previous issues can be found here: www.faz.net/magazin)
For the title of the anniversary edition, the editors chose a black and white motif from the fashion series with Toni Garrn shot in Berlin. The German top model, who now lives in the German capital after many years in the United States, wears a T-shirt specially designed by designer Lutz Huelle. A gold metallic ink was ordered from the printer for the “10” on her T-shirt and for the title lettering. The anniversary gold would not shine so beautifully in normal four-color printing.