Early Interior Design Magazines in Germany, 1890–1914

Focussing on Innen-Dekoration (founded in 1890) and Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration (founded in 1897) the essay examines the magazines’ visual and textual conventions. Both titles were launched by the Stuttgart-based publisher Alexander Koch (1860–1939). A key ally of the arts and crafts reform movement in Germany and the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony in particular, Koch actively promoted interconnections between publications, exhibitions and the retail environment. Published at a time of enhanced technical capabilities in the printing industry and a growth in magazine readership across professional and popular spheres, these design magazines offered a model of text-and-image relationship that in many ways shared a paradigm with art publishing internationally. The essay considers the underlying values and interests embodied by these two titles.