Enne Burda: a success story. Enne burda and the history of her magazine Year of foundation of burda fashion magazine

"If there was no Burda
In cities and villages,
We would never know
Patterns ready."

lora, our forum

The well-aimed words of the epigraph contain all the love of Russian sewing lovers for Burda magazine. If Enne Burda had heard them, she would certainly have smiled with satisfaction. Her magazine not only took an empty niche in the market, it took great place in the hearts of his readers. And this is not possible for all women's magazines!

Recently, an interesting one came out at the Burda publishing house, with an excerpt from which we want to introduce you to this publication. The 400-page book reveals to us the world of Anne Burda, a post-war German housewife who started her own business at the age of 40 and achieved worldwide fame.

The book "Enne Burda: Burda is fashionable - it's me!" by Ute Damen.

She didn't know how to sew, she didn't know anything about publishing. But she had an inner sense of elegance, a lot of energy and a husband whose betrayal just started the flywheel. new history. Stories of Anne Burda, an outstanding entrepreneur of the 20th century. How can one not recall the well-known Russian proverb "There would be no happiness, but misfortune helped."? And so, miraculously, the personal tragedy of a woman was transformed into a magnificent magazine that still inspires us and is the highest example of a pattern magazine.

Read about how Burda magazine was born back in 1950 in the following excerpt from the book. "Enne Burda: Burda is fashionable - it's me!", which we publish with the permission of the Burda publishing house.

PS. Anne Burda died in 2005. July 28, 2009 she would have turned 100 years old. In honor of the anniversary, we published a note in which you will find many interesting photographs from the history of this unique woman.

Pieces of plaster were falling off the dirty façade of the Wirtschaft zum Badle. This two-storey house in Lara was gray, like the rest of post-war Germany. In the great hall where theatrical performances were once staged and dance evenings, there was a cylindrical iron furnace, next to it lay a pile of coal with a shovel stuck in it. The walls were blackened with soot. The windows were so high that one could only see a glimpse of the sky and the tops of the firs through them. A narrow, steep staircase led to the second floor, where there were two small rooms, in the same rooms Cinderella must have once lived.

In the hall, which still smelled of sour beer, it was supposed to house the publishing house, but so far there was only a table and a chair. Everywhere there was desolation. But Anne Bourdu, an aesthete who always furnished her houses with great taste and expensively, this time cared little for the squalor of the premises: after all, if you do your job in good conscience, the glass slipper will certainly find its mistress.

At the direction of Enne, on a white, shabby facade, they brought out with black paint: "A. Burda fashion publishing house".“I was confident in my abilities and stubborn in achieving my goals. You don’t need to be emancipated for this,” Anne Burda recalled the beginning of her publishing career. “Besides, I was very good-looking and knew how to win over people.”

In October 1949, Anne Burda took over the household that Effi Breuer left behind: more than modest furniture, a small staff of employees and a huge debt for printing services - 200,000 marks. Enne had no idea about the work of the publisher. Yes, from time to time she took it upon herself to edit the women's page in SURAG for her husband, but her experience was limited to this.

How is a magazine made? Working like Breuer is absolutely unacceptable for her. She will show what she can do. Everyone. And first of all, my husband. He got a mistress who bore him a child, and also gave her a publishing house! But all right, the first point of the program has been completed, Breuer has been eliminated, the publishing house belongs to her. “If my husband loved me, as I loved him at the beginning of our life together, I would never have created Burda Moden,” Anne Burda later said. “I would have had enough happiness in family life.” Now she was overcome with vanity. "Family didn't interest me anymore" she recalled.

When exactly did Anna find out that husband has a mistress, is not exactly known. The betrayal hurt her heart. She believed that husband and wife should be inextricably linked "in sorrow and in joy" and belong only to each other. She believed in this, because she was brought up that way, and she always treated the rumors spread by evil tongues as a manifestation of envy. And she loved Franz, believing that he also loves his "savage". The world collapsed for her in an instant, and she could not even count on someone's support.

Early in the morning, she got into her brand new Volkswagen Karmann convertible and raced to Lahr, 25 kilometers from Offenburg. She left work last, at 10-11 pm. Anne sat at her desk and thought. She saw women dressed in practical but ugly post-war dresses, already turned twice. How can you feel like a woman in this dress? But there were few ready-made clothes on sale, and the prices for them were exorbitant. But the fabrics are quite affordable: the store owners hid them before the monetary reform, now they have reappeared on the shelves. Slowly the industry revived.

The rhythm of her work was set by Ludwig Erhard, director economic management Anglo-American occupation zone, future Minister of Economics and Chancellor of Germany. He achieved the abolition of central planning, which gave freedom to industry. The financial reform he carried out allowed him to hope for the stability of the new currency - the German mark. In May 1949, a constitution was adopted Federal Republic. On August 14, the Bundestag met for its first meeting in the provisional capital, Bonn. Christian Democrat Konrad Adenauer became chancellor, chairman of the Free Democratic Party Theodor Heuss - president of the Bundestag. East Germany has elected its president, Wilhelm Pieck. The newspapers wrote extensively about the blockade of West Berlin and the American airlift for the enclave. All this stirred the minds. But Berlin is too far from Offenburg.

Here, as throughout Germany, there were still refugees and exiles, there was not enough work and decent housing. But people wanted to forget the recent past, like a bad dream. The opportunity to start all over again was intoxicating, like the aroma of newly appeared natural coffee. It seemed that if there is strength, will, energy and the desire to create, beautiful dreams can become a reality. A new style new look, invented by the Parisian couturier Christian Dior, became an expression of these hopes, the glossy magazines of those years were filled with photographs of extravagant women. Wide skirts with a narrow waist instead of dressing gowns and headscarves, silk stockings instead of woolen socks - the Germans again wanted to be beautiful, feminine. And the pragmatic Anne understood how to help them.

Patterns solved the problem."I myself knew nothing about sewing, but I knew that only a dressmaker could make patterns"- recalled Anne Burda. She invited Lilo Durschnabel, a smart young dressmaker from Offenburg who knew her business very well. Lilo, by the way, remained faithful to the publishing house until her retirement. Günther Krieger came from the Stuttgart Art Academy. Enne appointed him to the position of graphic artist and always spoke of him commendably: "He made amazing patterns, even invented a special wheel for transferring patterns to fabric, which we then patented."

From competitors in Nuremberg, Enne lured an experienced editor who, in turn, brought two young women, specialists in textiles, to the publishing house. Finally, Enne "stole" from her husband the excellent graphic artist Oswald Moser, who had worked for Franz Burdu since 1942. "One after another, smart people came and brought ideas with them"- recalled Anne Burda. Her secretary Louise Weiss provided invaluable help at first, she worked for Anne for the next twenty years until she retired.

The first issue of the magazine was published in January 1950. Anne wanted to call him Favorit. The issue was already in print when a Viennese publishing house suddenly claimed the title. It was necessary to make an urgent decision. Changing the name from Breuer Moden to Anna Moden did not suit Anna: "It was associated with a bored housewife". In the end, she opted for the option Burda Moden. Her intuition did not fail her.

Who then could have imagined that it was this name that would glorify the name Burda all over the world? That her magazine would be read by women in a hundred countries in twenty languages? That even today, in the era of H&M and Zara, there is probably not a person on Earth whose mother, grandmother, aunt or cousin would not have at least one thing sewn according to a pattern from Burda Moden? That in distant Moscow, taxi drivers will willingly take not money, but the Burda Moden magazine? Yes, Franz could say: "If you called your magazine Lemminger Moden, it wouldn't be as successful", but in the depths of his soul he probably admitted that his name became known to the whole world precisely thanks to Enna.

"When reporters from Bunte, one of the leading publications of the Burda Media group, gave their Business Cards V South America, USA, Australia or Asia, they often heard: "Ah, Burda Moden!"", - recalled Imre Kustrich, who worked for many years as the chief editor of various publications of Franz Burda. "The fashion empire was created by Enne. What Dr. Burda did is wonderful, but without Enne all this would not have happened"- pays tribute to a friend Karl Lagerfeld.

So, Enne excitedly held in her hands the first issue of the Burda Moden magazine, which was published in a circulation of 100,000 copies. “Clothes, linen, needlework,” read the subtitle. All models of the issue were accompanied by patterns that were placed on two sheets attached to the magazine. at retail, an issue of the magazine cost 1.40 marks, by subscription a little cheaper - 1.20. The cover was decorated with a photograph of Renata, a student of philology, the daughter of a surgeon from Offenburg Paul Schaeffer - her parents were friends with the Burda family and often spent time with them. 21 years old, she looked extremely pretty in a blue-and-green double-breasted jacket with patch pockets and a pointed collar, red gloves and a lipstick-matching neckerchief.

"Anne was not at the forefront of fashion, she was a woman of her time, and this time was very difficult Karl Lagerfeld said. Women in Germany rejected openly petty-bourgeois values ​​and behaviors imposed on them by the ideologues of the Third Reich, and sought to catch up during the years of war and devastation. - Thanks to Enna, the middle and lower middle class gained self-confidence and got acquainted with fashion, which they did not know before".

The first success strengthened Enne's self-confidence as well. She was 40 years old. Having survived two world wars, having married, she gave birth to three sons, fulfilled her duty. And now she wanted to live her own way. She was still attractive, the little wrinkles around her shining eyes only adding to her charm. She kept her figure, had taste and was quite well off, so that she could afford to dress very well. But then, as she herself later admitted, she was by no means an inveterate fashionista. "I became interested in fashion when I started publishing a magazine, - Anne Burda said in an interview with Kultur-Spiegel magazine in 1999. - Before that, I was interested in beautiful dresses, but not fashion. After all, following fashion means changing your wardrobe four times a year..

When starting work on a new issue, Anne gathered dressmakers, directors and editors in a room where there were hangers with the latest models from Berlin, Zurich, Florence and Paris. She tried on these outfits one by one, like a fashion model: "So ladies, this is the Burda Moden style!"

"She always looked gorgeous. But at first I heard her and only then saw her", - recalled the artist Oswald Moser. The appearance of the hostess was preceded by an energetic clatter of heels and the legendary angry tirades against negligent employees. Franz seconded Moser to Lahr at the insistence of Enne, admonishingly, he warned: "You will go to Lahr to my wife. Keep in mind, there are a lot of women there, and where there are a lot of women, there are many problems.". And Moser, who drew maps of North Africa for Rommel, who was in French captivity until 1948 and participated in the Revue d "Information, now had to switch to a fashion magazine. “I did the work on time, sometimes staying up until one in the morning,” he recalled. “However, she was no less demanding of herself than of the others”. ...

18.12.2010 22:28

Many of today's thriving companies with a long history once began their activities with a small family contract. So it was with the famous German magazine Burda, whose founding date is considered to be 1908.

The young man Franz Burda began his printing career in 1898. At the age of 25, he got a job at Otto Pröttel's company, and four years later he became its owner. After working for several years in this organization, the German decided to organize his own business, not yet knowing that it would bring him overwhelming success.

Own own enterprise Franz opened in 1908 in the city of Offenburg and, following the example of many European entrepreneurs, named it after himself. Since 1929, the son of Franz Burda Jr. took over the reins of the printing house. By this time, the young man had already managed to study typography and get a degree from the university, which, undoubtedly, was a good help for business development.

The first editions of the printing house were the magazines S?RAG, Das Ufer, Das Haus and the soldier's newspaper Revue d "Information. The debut issue of Burda Moden, beloved by many women, was published in 1950 at the initiative of Franz's wife Anne Burda. In the same year, Burda became an honorary Senator of the Technical University in Karlsruhe, which could not but affect the character printed publications and pace of development of the printing press.

As early as 1954, Burda published the first magazine in Germany illustrated with color photographs. This breakthrough provided tremendous popularity periodical, which was achieved by the enterprising Franz.

Another achievement of Hubert Burda was the beginning of the publication of a fashion magazine in the Soviet Union. This significant event happened in 1987. Among other things, Burda Moden becomes the first Western publication to be allowed to be distributed in a closed country. No one has achieved this before Hubert.

Burda (Burda)- fashion magazine, produced by the German publishing concern Hubert Burda Media. Comes with patterns of life-size clothing models. Originally called Burda Moden. The magazine became the first Western edition published in the USSR.

History of the magazine

  • Franz Burda and Franz Burda II. Starting a family business

In 1898, twenty-five-year-old Franz Burda got a job at Otto Pröttel's printing house in Philippsburg. Four years later, he rose to the position of director of the organization. The first edition of the Burda family was the Philippsburger Zeitung, published in 1903, where Franz was in charge of editorial and publishing. After serving in the printing house for a few more years, he decided to open his own business. In 1908, having returned to his hometown of Offenburg, the entrepreneur registered the company and named it after himself. At first, only three people worked in the printing house. In 1927, the company launched its first publication, the radio program magazine SÜRAG. On February 24, 1903, a son was born to Franz Burd, who was named after his father. He took over the management of the printing house in 1929 when he graduated from the university. Franz Burda Jr decided to expand family business. The company's first publications were the French soldiers' newspaper Revue d'Information (1945), as well as the magazines Das Ufer (1948) and Das Haus (1949).

  • Franz and Anne Burda. Love story

“The most important thing is faith in yourself and in your strength.”

On July 28, 1909, Anna Magdalena Lemminger was born in Offenburg to the family of a train driver and a housewife. She received the nickname "Enne" as a child, when she constantly sang the song "Änchen von Tharau". In the girl’s head, the image of her mother, constantly washing or preparing food, was forever deposited. Anne wanted a different life. After the parochial school, the girl graduated from a trade school and got a job as a cashier in energy company. One of her clients was Franz Burda Jr. The young man was captivated by her beauty and kept repeating that she was Offenburg's most conspicuous girl.

In 1931, Franz Burda II and Anna Magdalena Lemminger got married. Enne and Franz were married for almost twenty years, they raised three children - Franz (1932), Frieder (1936) and Hubert (1940). Enne was the most spectacular society lady in Offenburg: she dressed beautifully, kept a maid and a nanny, and went to Baden-Baden to cut her hair.

  • Anne Burda. The appearance of Burda Moden

“If your income does not allow you to dress at Dior, a needle and thread, taste and imagination will definitely help you look fashionable and stylish…”

In 1949, Anne Burda found out that her husband was cheating on her with her secretary Elfriede Breuer, who even bore him a daughter. To provide for a second family Franz gave his mistress a printing workshop and a small fashion magazine "Effi Moden", which gradually went bankrupt under inept management. Forty-year-old Anne Burda, with the help of a lawyer, took away the magazine from her husband's mistress and personally headed it. She forgave her husband's betrayal, and Franz became the wife's junior partner. In the same year he received the post of honorary senator of the Technical University in Karlsruhe.

Enne Burda changed the name of the magazine to Burda Moden and created new concept: from now on, the publication printed life-size illustrations and patterns of simple elegant outfits that you could easily sew yourself. In 1950, the first issue was published with a circulation of 100,000 copies. magazine Burda Moden. In post-war Germany, where women dreamed of beautiful and inexpensive outfits, Anne Burda's ideas seemed revolutionary. She offered not fashionable outfits from the catwalks, difficult to tailor, but beautiful and practical products.

Enne attended fashion shows in Paris and Milan, chose the models she liked and adapted them to the tastes and financial capabilities of the magazine's readers. Besides, she was the first to offer her audience an application with clear and precise patterns. The magazine was distributed through trade union organizations at enterprises, and those who did not have the opportunity to purchase the publication in the proper way had to buy it at exorbitant prices from speculators. Women exchanged numbers, rewrote articles and copied patterns.

  • Anne Burda. Development of Burda Moden

“I was constantly striving for wealth. But not only. I've always wanted power."

Anne Burda attracted the best specialists to the development of patterns for the magazine. She poached graphic artist Oswald Moser from her husband's publishing house. By 1956, the circulation of Burda Moden reached 500,000, and a few years later - 1,200,000 copies. In 1963, the world record for the most sales of a fashion magazine was broken. In the 1970s, the publication was produced with a circulation of 2,000,000 copies. Initially, only models were printed in the magazine. women's clothing. By the 80s, the content of the magazine was supplemented with men's and children's clothing, as well as advice on home economics, needlework, and cooking. Later, the Burda International and Burda Special editions were added to the main issue of the publication, completely devoted to needlework, cooking, etc.


From several magazines, mainly thanks to Burda Moden, a whole publishing empire has grown. The publishing house annually organized competitions for non-professionals and tailors. Anne Burda herself hated housework and never sewed. Her intuition and business acumen helped her succeed. Later, Anne Burda moved to New York and opened a boutique in Manhattan, where she showed models from the magazine on herself. Such screenings were a success and positively influenced the ratings of the publication. Then stores were opened all over the world, where you could buy fabric and accessories for the clothes offered in the magazine, as well as old issues of Burda Moden.

In 1974, Anne Burda was awarded the Order of the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and almost thirty years later, the Cross of the Federal Republic of Germany with a star of Merit. She headed the magazine until 1994, after which she retired and took up painting. On November 3, 2005, Anne Burda passed away. A street in Offenburg is named after her - Anne Burda Alley.


  • Hubert Burda. Family business development and management Burda Moden

Hubert Burda was born on February 9, 1940 to Franz Burda II and Anne Burda. He joined the family business in 1966 after studying at the Munich Institute at the Faculty of Art History and Archeology. At that time, Hubert did not understand the publishing business at all. The company already owned fifteen magazines. In 1973, Franz Burda II transferred the powers of managing directors to his sons: Franz - in the field of printing, Frieder - in finance and administration, Hubert - in publishing. At the end of 1986, after the death of his father, Hubert Burda took over the management of the publishing house, buying out their shares from the brothers. He became the owner of Burda magazine in 1994, when Anne Burda retired from the company, and the Burda Moden publishing house became part of the Hubert Burda Media concern. In the same year, the magazine began publishing in China, becoming the first Western magazine to be allowed into the country.

By the 2000s, the magazine's audience had changed a lot. Now it is bought not by those who cannot afford good ready-made clothes, but by women who are fond of sewing. In the early 2000s, female readers were regularly referred to as the "creative elite" on the pages of the magazine. During the same period, the editors of Burda Moden began to offer women help in finding the right fabrics. The magazine began to publish more articles and photos of ready-made clothes. Currently, Burda Moden magazine has been renamed Burda Fashion. It is published in classic and mini formats and is available in 20 languages ​​in almost 100 countries.

Burda Moden magazine in Russia

“Anne Burda stood at the origins of our publishing house in the Soviet Union. A German woman who does not know the Russian language was able to understand the needs of a Russian woman and offered her the main thing - elegance, beauty and faith in a dream.

Arnd-Volker Listevnik, CEO Publishing house "Burda"

In the Soviet Union, Burda Moden began to appear in 1987 and became the first Western magazine distributed in a closed state. The publication was produced at the Soviet-German enterprise "Burda Moden" opened in the same 1987. It appeared thanks to the assistance of Raisa Gorbacheva, who declared that the magazine would be a great contribution to the "democratization of Soviet women." On the occasion of the release of the publication, a solemn event with a fashion show was held in the Column Hall of the House of Unions. German Foreign Minister Hans Dietrich Genscher told Anne Burda that to establish friendly relations with Soviet Union she did more than "the three ambassadors before her put together" .


The first issue of Burda Moden came out by March 8, 1987 with a circulation of 100,000 copies and was instantly sold out. On the cover above the name of the magazine was placed the phrase "Models for those who sew themselves." Then the slogan changed several times: “Fashion for everyone”, “Magazine for everyone”, “Fashion for the whole world”, etc. To make the publication accessible to Soviet readers, the number of pages was reduced in the Russian version, less quality paper was used, etc. But despite this, the magazine, which became a kind of "window to the West", was very popular. Each model from the issue was copied many times, each recipe was immediately brought to life. Soviet women who "sewed according to Burda", as well as in the West, appreciated the elegance of styles, the accuracy and convenience of the patterns presented in each issue. A little later, the TV program “Burda Moden Presents” went on the air, where video sewing lessons were shown. The restrained style of the magazine's clothing models brought up the tastes of several generations of Soviet women.

Now Burda Moden has ceased to be a symbol of a well-equipped foreign life. At present, as well as abroad, the magazine is bought by women who need high-quality patterns and practical advice about household.

Hubert Burda Media

Currently, the media concern Hubert Burda Media, under the leadership of Hubert Burda, publishes 262 magazines (, Men's Health, Bunte, Freundin, Frau im Trend, Lisa, Relax, etc.), which are published in more than 20 countries around the world. The company also has shares in various radio stations, projects on television and on the Internet. The company employs more than eight thousand employees. The concern has representative offices in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, and also in Russia.

She didn't know how to sew, she didn't know anything about publishing. But she had an inner sense of elegance, a lot of energy and a husband whose betrayal just launched the flywheel of a new story. Stories of Anne Burda, an outstanding entrepreneur of the 20th century. How can one not recall the well-known Russian proverb "There would be no happiness, but misfortune helped."? And so, miraculously, the personal tragedy of a woman was transformed into a magnificent magazine that still inspires us and is the highest example of a pattern magazine.

Read about how Burda magazine was born back in 1950 in the following excerpt from the book "Enne Burda: Burda is fashionable - it's me!", which we publish with the permission of Burda Publishing House.



Pieces of plaster were falling off the dirty façade of the Wirtschaft zum Badle. This two-story house in Lara was gray, like all of post-war Germany. In the great hall, where theatrical performances and dance evenings were once held, there was a cylindrical iron stove, next to it lay a pile of coal with a shovel stuck in it. The walls were blackened with soot. The windows were so high that one could only see a glimpse of the sky and the tops of the firs through them. A narrow, steep staircase led to the second floor, where there were two small rooms, in the same rooms Cinderella must have once lived.

In the hall, which still smelled of sour beer, it was supposed to house the publishing house, but so far there was only a table and a chair. Everywhere there was desolation. But Anne Bourdu, an aesthete who always furnished her houses with great taste and expensively, this time cared little for the squalor of the premises: after all, if you do your job in good conscience, the glass slipper will certainly find its mistress.

At the direction of Enne, on a white shabby facade, they brought out in black paint: "A. Burda Fashion Publishing House". “I was confident in my abilities and stubborn in achieving my goals. You don’t need to be emancipated for this,” Anne Burda recalled the beginning of her publishing career. “Besides, I was very good-looking and knew how to win over people.”

In October 1949, Anne Burda took over the household that Effi Breuer left behind: more than modest furniture, a small staff of employees and a huge debt for printing services - 200,000 marks. Admittedly, Anne had no idea about the work of the publisher Yes, from time to time she took it upon herself to edit the women's page in SURAG for her husband, but her experience was limited to this.

How is a magazine made? Working like Breuer is absolutely unacceptable for her. She will show what she can do. Everyone. And first of all, my husband. He got a mistress who bore him a child, and also gave her a publishing house! But all right, the first point of the program has been completed, Breuer has been eliminated, the publishing house belongs to her. “If my husband loved me, as I loved him at the beginning of our life together, I would never have created Burda Moden,” Anne Burda later said. “I would have had enough happiness in family life.” Now she was overcome with vanity. “I was no longer interested in my family,” she recalled.

When exactly Anna found out that her husband had a mistress, it is not known exactly. The betrayal hurt her heart. She believed that husband and wife should be inextricably linked "in sorrow and in joy" and belong only to each other. She believed in this, because she was brought up that way, and she always treated the rumors spread by evil tongues as a manifestation of envy. And she loved Franz, believing that he also loves his "savage". The world collapsed for her in an instant, and she could not even count on someone's support.

Best of the day

Early in the morning, she got into her brand new Volkswagen Karmann convertible and raced to Lahr, 25 kilometers from Offenburg. She left work last, at 10-11 pm. Anne sat at her desk and thought. She saw women dressed in practical but ugly post-war dresses, already turned twice. How can you feel like a woman in this dress? But there were few ready-made clothes on sale, and the prices for them were exorbitant. But the fabrics are quite affordable: the store owners hid them before the monetary reform, now they have reappeared on the shelves. Slowly the industry revived.

The rhythm of her work was set by Ludwig Erhard, director of the Economic Administration of the Anglo-American Occupation Zone, the future Minister of Economics and Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. He achieved the abolition of central planning, which gave freedom to industry. The financial reform he carried out allowed him to hope for the stability of the new currency - the German mark. In May 1949, the constitution of the Federal Republic was adopted. On August 14, the Bundestag met for its first meeting in the provisional capital, Bonn. Christian Democrat Konrad Adenauer became chancellor, chairman of the Free Democratic Party Theodor Heuss - president of the Bundestag. East Germany has elected its president, Wilhelm Pieck. The newspapers wrote extensively about the blockade of West Berlin and the American airlift for the enclave. All this stirred the minds. But Berlin is too far from Offenburg.

Here, as throughout Germany, there were still refugees and exiles, there was not enough work and decent housing. But people wanted to forget the recent past, like a bad dream. The opportunity to start all over again was intoxicating, like the aroma of newly appeared natural coffee. It seemed that if there is strength, will, energy and the desire to create, beautiful dreams can become a reality. The new style New Look, invented by the Parisian couturier Christian Dior, became an expression of these hopes, the glossy magazines of those years were filled with photographs of extravagant women. Wide skirts with a narrow waist instead of dressing gowns and headscarves, silk stockings instead of woolen socks - the Germans again wanted to be beautiful, feminine. And the pragmatic Anne understood how to help them.

Patterns solved the problem. “I myself did not know anything about sewing, but I knew that only a dressmaker was able to make patterns,” Anne Burda recalled. She invited Lilo Durschnabel, a smart young dressmaker from Offenburg who knew her business very well. Lilo, by the way, remained faithful to the publishing house until her retirement. Günther Krieger came from the Stuttgart Art Academy. Enne appointed him to the position of graphic artist and always spoke commendably of him: "He made amazing patterns, even invented a special wheel for transferring patterns to fabric, which we later patented."

From competitors in Nuremberg, Enne lured an experienced editor who, in turn, brought two young women, specialists in textiles, to the publishing house. Finally, Enne "stole" from her husband the excellent graphic artist Oswald Moser, who had worked for Franz Burdu since 1942. “One after another, smart people came and brought ideas with them,” Anne Burda recalled. Her secretary Louise Weiss provided invaluable help at first, she worked for Anne for the next twenty years until she retired.

The first issue of the magazine was published in January 1950. Anne wanted to call him Favorit. The issue was already in print when a Viennese publishing house suddenly claimed the title. It was necessary to make an urgent decision. Changing the name from Breuer Moden to Anna Moden did not suit Anna: "It evoked an association with a bored housewife." In the end, she opted for Burda Moden. Her intuition did not fail her.

Who then could have imagined that it was this name that would glorify the name Burda all over the world? That her magazine would be read by women in a hundred countries in twenty languages? That even today, in the era of H&M and Zara, there is probably not a person on Earth whose mother, grandmother, aunt or cousin would not have at least one thing sewn according to a pattern from Burda Moden? That in distant Moscow, taxi drivers will willingly take not money, but the Burda Moden magazine? Yes, Franz could say: "If you called your magazine Lemminger Moden, it would not have been such a success," but in the depths of his soul he probably recognized that his name became known to the whole world precisely thanks to Enne.

“When reporters from Bunte, one of the leading publications of the Burda Media group, gave away their business cards in South America, the USA, Australia or Asia, they often heard: “Ah, Burda Moden!”, Recalled Imre Kustrich, who worked for many years as editor-in-chief various editions of Franz Burda. "The fashion empire was created by Enne. What Dr. Burda did is wonderful, but without Enne all this would not have happened," Karl Lagerfeld pays tribute to his friend.

So, Enne excitedly held in her hands the first issue of the Burda Moden magazine, which was published in a circulation of 100,000 copies. “Clothes, linen, needlework,” read the subtitle. All models of the issue were accompanied by patterns that were placed on two sheets attached to the magazine. at retail, an issue of the magazine cost 1.40 marks, by subscription a little cheaper - 1.20. The cover was decorated with a photograph of Renata, a student of philology, the daughter of a surgeon from Offenburg Paul Schaeffer - her parents were friends with the Burda family and often spent time with them. 21 years old, she looked extremely pretty in a blue-and-green double-breasted jacket with patch pockets and a pointed collar, red gloves and a lipstick-matching neckerchief.

“Enne was not at the forefront of fashion, she was a woman of her time, and this time was very difficult,” said Karl Lagerfeld. Women in Germany rejected openly petty-bourgeois values ​​and behaviors imposed on them by the ideologues of the Third Reich, and sought to catch up during the war years "Thanks to Enna, middle and lower middle class women gained self-confidence and got acquainted with fashion, which they did not know before."

The first success strengthened Enne's self-confidence as well. She was 40 years old. Having survived two world wars, having married, she gave birth to three sons, fulfilled her duty. And now she wanted to live her own way. She was still attractive, the little wrinkles around her shining eyes only adding to her charm. She kept her figure, had taste and was quite well off, so that she could afford to dress very well. But then, as she herself later admitted, she was by no means an inveterate fashionista. “I became interested in fashion when I started publishing a magazine,” Anne Burda said in an interview with Kultur-Spiegel magazine in 1999. “Before that, I was interested in beautiful dresses, but not fashion. After all, following fashion means changing your wardrobe four times a year.”

When starting work on a new issue, Anne gathered dressmakers, directors and editors in a room where there were hangers with the latest models from Berlin, Zurich, Florence and Paris. She tried on these outfits one by one, like a fashion model: "So, ladies, this is the style of Burda Moden!"

“She always looked gorgeous. But at first I heard her and only then saw her,” recalled the artist Oswald Moser. The appearance of the hostess was preceded by an energetic clatter of heels and the legendary angry tirades against negligent employees. Franz seconded Moser to Lahr at Enne's insistence, advising: "You will go to Lahr, to my wife. Keep in mind, there are a lot of women, and where there are a lot of women, there are many problems." And Moser, who drew maps of North Africa for Rommel, who was in French captivity until 1948 and participated in the Revue d "Information, now had to switch to a fashion magazine. "I did the work on time, sometimes staying up until one in the morning," he recalled . However, she was no less demanding of herself than of others.

Anne Burda's life story

To tell the story of the creation of the Burda magazine, but not to mention its main "mother" Anne Burda, means to say nothing at all. Anna Magdalena Limminger, aka Anne Burda, was born on July 28, 1909 in a small German town called Offenburg. The name under which Anna entered world history, arose even in childhood itself - it was Anne who called the girl her parents because she was very fond of singing a children's song, which was called “Ennchen from Trau”. After graduating from school, and after a trade school, the girl married Franz Burda. From financial well-being, the newly minted family had a doctorate in history and a small book printing house. But Annie herself did not like to sit in one place and be content with what she had. She always had good taste and was well known in fashion. That's why Anne always looked like Hollywood. Her main creed at that time was: "If your finances do not allow you to dress from Dior, a needle and thread, taste and imagination will certainly help you look fashionable and stylish ...". And even having given her husband three sons, the woman never betrayed her good taste and style.

History of the magazine

At the age of forty, Enne Burda decided to realize herself not only as a mother, but also as a successful woman. And first of all, she was prompted by the interest of her friends, who tirelessly bombarded the woman with questions about how she manages to look and dress so chic. Already in 1949, Anne took over the leadership of her husband's publishing house. The first basis for the creation of their new "brainchild" was the printing of not books, but magazines. And the very first magazine that saw the light from under the machine of the publishing house Enne Burda was the magazine of the same name, Burda Modern. It was with the help of this magazine that Anne decided to answer all the questions that tormented her friends.

The very idea of ​​publishing a women's magazine, in which fashionable patterns of women's stylish clothes were placed, turned out to be a very profitable business that brought an excellent income. The circulation of the first copy of the women's edition was about one hundred thousand. But after about fifteen years, this circulation in Germany alone reached a million copies. The magazine "Burda" has become a real gift for the fair sex all over the world. It was because of the creation of this magazine that women learned, using the example of the unsurpassed Enna, to create fashionable outfits for themselves that emphasized their image with their own hands. But the author of the magazine did not stop there and constantly improved her edition. In cities such as New York and Manhattan, Burda opened small boutiques in which she arranged for herself to try on the clothes that she offered to her readers. Such "fashion shows" were a huge success, which, in turn, had a positive effect on the increase in the rating of the publication itself. main goal Anne was to please all readers. Therefore, she firmly believed that the convenience of the proposed clothing models should come first. By the way, despite the fact that Burda could already afford anything, she did not stop pampering herself with fashionable and stylish outfits that she sewed herself and whose models she posted on the pages of her magazine.

After some time, the magazine "Burda Modern" ceased to be just a magazine and acquired the status of something larger and global. Shops were opened all over the world, where mainly female readers could buy for themselves the fabric that was needed for certain models of tailoring. It was also possible to purchase special fittings and even old extracts from the magazine itself.

Expanding the boundaries of the publishing house "Burda"

After the creation of the magazine and its worldwide recognition, the small family printing house of the Burda couple gradually acquired the status of the largest publishing house, which was talked about all over the world. In addition to the magazine "Burda Modern", the world saw another magazine, the "brainchild" of Burda called "Burda Internationality". This edition was entirely devoted to cooking and its peculiarities. But the history of the creation of magazines under the name "Burda" did not end there, and magazine publications under the name "Anna", "Karina", "Verena" were added to their "friendly ranks". These were extended tutorials on knitting, as well as DIY Christmas decorations, toys and dolls. Also on the pages of these magazines one could find tips on embroidery, needlework, home improvement, gardening. These magazines were sent not only for women's leisure, but for the whole family. An interesting fact is that even men have become avid readers of such magazines.

Not without reason in post-war Germany, Anne Burda was called the "German miracle of the economy." Equal to how she went beyond one magazine, she was able to go beyond the entire country, which brought her and her "brainchild" great fame and success. As a legacy, this woman was able to leave behind hundreds of countries where her “printed word” is revered, twenty languages ​​into which the magazine was translated, and a millionth army of readers and admirers of the publication. Enne Burda completely retired from publishing in 1994, passing all her powers and legacy of the internationally recognized name "Burda" to her sons. In 2005, on November 2, she died. Women all over the world will thank Enne for decades for teaching the world how to live beautifully and doing so even after her death. After all, the publishing house "Burda" lives and thrives to this day, delighting its beautiful readers with its interesting editions of the same magazine called "Burda".