Bunte

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title: "Bunte" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1948-establishments-in-germany", "celebrity-magazines", "german-language-magazines", "german-news-websites", "women's-magazines-published-in-germany", "weekly-magazines-published-in-germany", "magazines-established-in-1948", "magazines-published-in-munich"] description: "German weekly magazine" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunte" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary German weekly magazine ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox magazine"]

Field	Value
logo	Logo Bunte.svg
image_file	Bunte cover 1999 30.png
image_caption	Sample cover
editor	Robert Pölzer
editor_title	Editor-in-Chief
frequency	Weekly
circulation	468,710 (02/2017)
publisher	Hubert Burda Media
founded
country	Germany
based	Munich
language	German
website
::

|logo = Logo Bunte.svg |image_file = Bunte cover 1999 30.png |image_caption = Sample cover |editor = Robert Pölzer |editor_title = Editor-in-Chief |founder = |frequency = Weekly |circulation = 468,710 (02/2017) |publisher = Hubert Burda Media |founded = |country = Germany |based = Munich |language = German |website = |issn = Bunte (company's preferred spelling in capital letters) is a German-language weekly celebrity gossip magazine published by Hubert Burda Media. The first edition was published in 1948 under the name Das Ufer. Under the leadership of Hubert Burda, Bunte developed into a modern popular magazine.{{citation|author=Ulrike Simon |periodical=Horizont|title=Das Projekt des Verlegers|page=12|date=12 May 2016|language=German}} In 2014, Bunte was the 11th most popular media brand in Germany, with 10.57 million monthly users. After Patricia Riekel stepped down, Robert Pölzer took over as Editor-in-Chief in July 2016.

History

After the end of World War II, the French authorities commissioned ex-Nazi publisher Franz Burda to come up with an illustrated magazine and, following their request, he released the first edition in 1948 under the name Das Ufer.{{citation|periodical=Die Zeit|title=Macht und Pracht der bunten Bilder|date=26 November 1982|language=German|url=http://www.zeit.de/1982/48/macht-und-pracht-der-bunten-bilder/komplettansicht|access-date= 6 January 2017

In the 1950s and 1960s, Bunte developed into one of the most widely distributed West German popular magazines.{{citation|surname1=Insa Sjurts|title=Die deutsche Medienbranche: Eine unternehmensstrategische Analyse|publisher=Springer Gabler|publication-place=Wiesbaden|page=87|isbn=978-3-322-96462-5|date=1996|language=German

In July 1972, the Bunte Illustrierte first appeared under the abbreviated name of the Bunte.{{citation|surname1=Gisela Freisinger|title=Hubert Burda: Der Medienfürst|publisher=Campus|publication-place=Frankfurt am Main|page=418|isbn=978-3-593-40087-7|date=2005|language=German

In 1985, Burda-Verlag purchased from Rolf Mengele the handwritten notes of his father, Josef Mengele, which consisted of several thousand pages, for one million Deutsche Marks,{{citation|surname1=Hermann G. Abmayr|periodical=Kontext|title=Der lange Schatten des KZ-Arztes|date=21 January 2015|language=German|url=http://www.kontextwochenzeitung.de/zeitgeschehen/199/der-lange-schatten-des-kz-arztes-2679.html|access-date= 6 January 2017

After the death of Franz Burda in the year 1986, the Burda Group was reorganized.{{citation|periodical=WirtschaftsWoche|title=Teile und herrsche|page=80|date=9 January 1987|language=German

After Wagner was forced to step down due to faltering circulation,{{citation|periodical=Horizont|title=Wagner nimmt Hut bei Burda|page=14|date=9 October 1997|language=German

Under the leadership of Riekel, the magazine developed into one of Germany's most "enigmatic media brands".{{citation|surname1=Heidi Radvilas|periodical=Horizont|title=Die Ikone des People-Journalismus|page=30|date=19 December 2002|language=German

In 2016, Patricia Riekel left the publication after 1,000 issues of the Bunte. Since then Editor-in-chief Robert Pölzer has been at the helm of the people magazine.

Circulation

The Bunte is one of the most popular media brands of Hubert Burda Media. Like other magazines, however, it saw its reach diminished in recent years. Paid circulation has declined by 31.3 percent since 1998 and is currently 468,710 copies. The share of subscriptions is at around 19.1 percent.

Criticism

The Bunte was repeatedly embroiled in court cases with celebrities. In 1995, for example, Caroline, Princess of Hanover, won what up to that time was the largest-ever award for damages for pain and suffering in the history of the German press before the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg, because the Bunte had published a totally fabricated interview with her. The interview contained numerous untruthful details on her private life. The *Bunte'''s chief editorial staff's counterargument was that they had been duped by an outside agency, which had sold the interview to the publication. In 1996, Tom Cruise sued the Bunte for damages because it wrongly quoted him in an interview as allegedly being "sterile". The Deputy Editor-in-chief Günter Stampf, who had manipulated the interview, was then forced to leave the publishing company. The *Bunte'' apologized to Cruise, who subsequently dropped the lawsuit.

In 2008, the German Press Council reprimanded the Bunte due to a violation of the German Press Code. The publication had run an article on a new car model and, as the German Press Council determined, exceeded the bounds of hidden advertising for the new product. In 2010, the magazine Stern published an exposé reporting that the Bunte had hired an external agency to spy on the private lives of certain politicians. As a result, one of the persons affected, the former SPD Chairman Franz Müntefering, publicly reprimanded the Bunte for its working practices. In 2011, prior to the beginning of the Kachelmann trial, the Bunte published an interview with the moderator's ex-girlfriend, who in exchange is said to have received remuneration of 50,000 Euros. While Kachelmann's defense lawyer raised the topic of the agreement before court, Burda-Verlag rejected the criticism. In 2013, the former German Federal President Christian Wulff filed for a preliminary injunction against the Bunte. The District Court of Cologne forbade the magazine to create the impression that Wulff allegedly had a relationship with a music manager.

The Bunte, in turn, did manage to come up on top in some court cases. In 2010, for example, Charlotte Casiraghi lost a case against the publication. The daughter of Caroline, Princess of Hanover, had originally taken action against the publication of party photos.{{citation|periodical=Leipziger-Volkszeitung|title=Erfolg für Pressefreiheit|page=15|date=20 October 2010|language=German

References

1. (5 April 2016). "Robert Pölzer wird zum 1. Juli neuer Chefredakteur von Bunte".
2. Royston, Jack. (1 August 2020). "Photos taken in secret of Baby Archie published in German magazine".
3. (27 March 2008). "60 Jahre Bunte".
4. (9 February 2015). "Der Mann hinter den bunten Blättern".
5. Schröder. (18 September 2014). "Deutschlands populärste Medienmarken: Bild und Apotheken Umschau".
6. Petra Schwegler. (5 April 2016). "Robert Pölzer löst Riekel als Bunte-Chef ab".
7. Stephan Sattler. "Ein Leben zwischen Verlag, Kunst und Innovation".
8. Hans-Jürgen Jakobs. (8 November 2012). "That's new, Pussycat".
9. (20 March 1987). "Plagiat?".
10. (19 June 1985). "Nachrichten und Berichte".
11. Kurt Sagatz. (5 April 2016). "Patricia Riekel gibt Bunte-Chefredaktion ab".
12. (24 August 2001). "Einfach nur peinlich!".
13. (7 January 2016). "Nach mehr als 1000 Ausgaben: Bunte ohne Patricia Riekel".
14. (4 March 2016). "Bunte: Robert Pölzer soll Nachfolger von Patricia Riekel werden".
15. "Marken". Hubert Burda Media.
16. [[Informationsgemeinschaft zur Feststellung der Verbreitung von Werbeträgern]]
17. (29 July 1996). "So viel wie möglich".
18. (2 August 1996). "Zwischenzeilen".
19. (26 July 2006). "Prinzessin erhält hohe Entschädigung".
20. (26 July 1996). "Rekordsumme für Caroline: Burda-Verlag muß für ein erfundenes Interview bezahlen".
21. (2 August 1996). "Filmstar will 60 Millionen Dollar: Tom Cruise hat Zeitschrift Bunte auf Schadensersatz verklagt".
22. (13 August 1996). "Ein Interview, das in die Hose ging".
23. (15 August 1996). "Tom Cruise zieht Klage gegen Bunte zurück".
24. "Pressemitteilungen". Trägerverein des Deutschen Presserats.
25. Volker Scharninghausen. (19 September 2008). "Presserat rügt Werbeverstöße in Magazinen".
26. (26 February 2010). "Die falschen Dementis der CMK".
27. (26 February 2010). "Müntefering rügt die Bunte".
28. (23 March 2011). "Kachelmanns Ex-Geliebte bekam 50.000 Euro für Interview".
29. (24 March 2011). "Rekordsumme für eine Story".
30. (23 March 2011). "Kachelmann: Ex-Geliebte erhielt 50.000 Euro für Interview".
31. (10 June 2013). "Wulff erwirkt Verfügung gegen Zeitschrift Bunte: Ex-Bundespräsident geht gegen Berichte vor".
32. (10 June 2013). "Wulff geht gegen Bunte vor".
33. (17 November 2010). "Gericht erlaubt Artikel über Prinzessin Charlotte".
34. (25 October 2006). "Privatsphäre: Jauch verklagt Bunte auf 300.000 Euro".
35. (25 October 2006). "Hochzeits-Schnappschuss Jauch verklagt Bunte".
36. (16 June 2016). "Günther Jauch verliert Streit um Hochzeitsfotos in Bunte".

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