History of Europe

Bravo:Loved by teenagers, hated by parents

Frowned upon by parents, an important mouthpiece for millions of teenagers when it comes to fashion, music and sex:the first "Bravo" was released on August 26, 1956. The Hamburger Bauer Verlag has been publishing the magazine since 1968.

On August 26, 1956, a small revolution started in Germany:the first "Bravo" with a circulation of 30,000 copies came onto the magazine market for 50 Pfennig. At that time it still had the subtitle:"Magazine for film and television". Marilyn Monroe is featured on the cover. In the meantime, the golden days are long gone - but there is still the newspaper that has shaped entire generations with educational pages, full-body posters and photo love stories. "Bravo" has been published by the Hamburger Bauer Verlag since 1968.

The youth magazine as a community experience

Young people in the early years eagerly await a new issue every week. "'Bravo' was totally brilliant, because it was actually forbidden" and "There were always one or two people in the class who bought the booklet and it was passed around because not everyone could buy it", remember two hamburgers. So "Bravo" was always a community experience:giggling about the photo love stories, thinking up "My First Time" stories with your girlfriend - long before you got into the embarrassment yourself - and finally finding out exactly what this ominous petting actually is . So that you could have a say at school.

The "Bravo" ensures a Beatlemania in Germany

Stars like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis or Peter Kraus adorn the first "Bravo" magazines.

When Hollywood was as far away from Hamburg as Jupiter, readers of "Bravo" learned everything from the world of stars. The sheet promises a special closeness to the idols. Since 1959 they have even moved into the youth room in life size:Brigitte Bardot adorns the first so-called star cut. It's a form of reader engagement at its finest. Because in order to get all the parts together, several booklets have to be bought. From Elvis to Backstreet Boys, from Nena to Justin Bieber - they all end up on the home walls. Also the Village People's star cut, it is divided into 53 parts over 25 issues. An official "Bravo" record. Although the price of the magazine rose to one Deutschmark in 1966, "Bravo" broke the million mark for the first time with a sold circulation of 1,018,588. In the same year, the magazine achieved an advertising coup:"Bravo" initiated and sponsored a Beatles lightning tour in Germany. The six concerts, two of them in Hamburg, are among the last appearances of the mushroom heads in Europe.

This is how users on NDR.de remember the "Bravo"

"Secretly under the covers"

"I often had to read 'Bravo' secretly under the covers. There was no education from home. I was glad that 'Bravo' and Dr. Sommer existed," writes Karin Schaper.

Memories of Dr. Summer

"Dr. Sommer " Insemination with the finger " I will never forget 1981", remembers Udo Burmester.

Black market for educational booklets

"I was at boarding school at the time. So we were well taken care of by the older ones with Playboys and everything else that was available at the time. I even remember a kind of black market and exchange for such magazines. In return, they were offered to clean the room, etc. It was absurd. But looking back it was hilarious," reports Hardy Hörmann.

More "learning by doing"

"I was interested and partly amused by the Dr. Sommer column, but my enlightenment consisted of learning by doing," writes Sebastian Dietrich.

"Didn't feel enlightened by the Dr."

"I also read the 'Bravo', but I can't say that I got carried away by the 'Dr.' would have felt enlightened," says Astrid Brants Millekat.

Enlightener of the youth:Dr. Sommer gives sex tips

From 1969, Dr. Summer Questions about sexuality and first love.

Since 1969, young readers have been able to get sex tips from the fictional character Dr. Jochen Sommer in the "What moves you" section. Many parents are dissatisfied with the new openness - they are still tearing the information pages out of the paper. The authorities also targeted "Bravo"; in 1972, the Federal Testing Agency classified two articles about "masturbation" as harmful to young people and indexed them. "There shouldn't have been any encouragement to experience sexuality, only toleration," says Martin Goldstein, alias Dr. Summer 2008 in an interview. But "Bravo" removes taboos from sexuality - and contributes to the sexual revolution in prudish post-war Germany, even if only marginally. Because the editors receive so many questions, there is soon a whole team behind Dr. Sommer advising to this day. And the problems of the young people in the more recent editions are already relevant to their parents:Which position is the best? My mom is against tampons! A contraceptive patch instead of the pill?

Reunification gives the brand a circulation record

In the 1980s, "Bravo" struggled with circulation losses.

In the 80s, due to a lack of big stars, the number of copies printed fell below the million mark again. It was only after reunification that the sales figures of the brand increased again - and finally the "Bravo" achieved a circulation record:in 1991, 1.58 million copies were sold over the counter. Ever since music television and the Internet came into existence, sales have been falling steadily, to well below 200,000 copies. Since 2014, the magazine has therefore only been published every two weeks. There are also the "Bravo Sport" or the "Bravo" YouTube stars. And the website. It is even more lurid than the magazine to increase the number of clicks, with headlines like "Penis shapes, that's what they say about a boy's character!", "Great! Half of the women think about that during sex!" and " That's why you're a psychopath if you stay friends with your ex!"

Questionable tips convey an old-fashioned image of women

In terms of content, too, "Bravo" rarely makes positive headlines. The last big coup came in 2005 with the development of Tokio Hotel into teen stars. Ten years later, in 2015, the magazine published a list of "100 tips for a great charisma", which - to put it mildly - transport a rather old-fashioned image of women. One of the tips that gets the internet community most upset:"Always look at guys slightly from below, that looks cutest on guys!"

In 2013 the magazine experienced a major relaunch

When Nadine Nordmann took over as editor-in-chief in 2013, she turned the magazine inside out. The longtime head of the Dr. Summer teams, Jutta Stiehler, has to go. The psychologist, who personally answered every request for 16 years, has since publicly feared that young people seeking help would only receive ready-made standard answers. Editor-in-chief Nordmann does not want to respond to questions from the NDR Info editorial team. She only provides ready-made answers:"The 'Bravo' is perhaps more important than ever. Because of course our young people today are connected with the stars in real time via Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp. But at the same time they have a great need for orientation developed. And of course only 'Bravo' can offer that as a print product."

"Bravo" now relies on digital channels like Tiktok

In 2017, Yvonne Huckenholz took over as editor-in-chief of "Bravo". The print run has fallen massively in recent years and is currently only 83,000 copies. As a consequence, the newspaper has only been published once a month since 2020. Nevertheless, according to the editor-in-chief, "Bravo" is not a relic from the old days, but just as youthful as it was on the day it was first published. In order for the brand to survive, the "Bravo" makers are focusing on digital channels such as YouTube and TikTok.

Whether it's music, fashion or education:"Bravo" accompanies teenagers in the media, just as it does today. But the old glory has faded. The star cuts and the legendary performances of the Beatles in the 60s remain unforgotten.