Hirmer Publishers is the name used by Hirmer Verlag, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

art book publishing house based in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, for its operations in the English-speaking world.

Publishing history

The publishing house was founded in 1948 by

Max Hirmer Max Hirmer (1893-1981) was a German botanist, publisher and photographer. Hirmer was born on 14 April 1893 in Straubing. After graduating from the Wilhelmsgymnasium in Munich in 1913, he studied archaeology, art history and natural sciences. Hirmer ...

and his wife Aenne. Since 1952 it has been called Hirmer Verlag and began publishing books in the 1950s. After Max Hirmer retirement, his son Albert Hirmer took over the management of the publishing house. Since 2011 the publishing house belongs to the newspaper publisher Dirk Ippen. The management has been with Thomas Zuhr since 2009. Hirmer Publishers with its headquarters in Munich (Germany) ranks among the most prestigious publishers of art books.

Publishing program

The subjects of Hirmer books span a wide range of areas from

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

, to fashion, and the history of culture and include series of academic publications as well as extensive catalogues raisonnés. In recent years, Hirmer Publishers has increasingly turned its focus to contemporary art, without neglecting its traditional roots in fields such as

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

and the

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

. Exhibition catalogues are also part of the publisher's program as well as authors' books, which are often prepared over a period of years and then developed and produced in-house. In addition, is the regular appearance of the Hirmer collector's editions: original works, which are numbered, signed, and published in strictly limited editions.

International art

The majority of the publications are in German, but more than 200 English-language titles are available. The publishing house cooperates with

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

and the

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

Awards

In 2018, Hirmer Publishers was awarded with the Goldene Letter, the highest award of the international competition for the most beautiful books from all over the world, for ''Heimat, Handwerk und die Utopie des Alltäglichen''. Schönste Bücher aus aller Welt.Börsenblatt: Hirmer-Buch gewinnt Goldene Letter
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References

External links

Official Website
of Hirmer Verlag (English version) {{Authority control Book publishing companies of Germany Mass media in Munich German companies established in 1948