''Pestrý týden'' was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

illustrated weekly magazine published from 2 November 1926 to 28 April 1945, during the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Czechoslovak Republic The Second Czechoslovak Republic (Czech language, Czech and ), officially the Czecho-Slovak Republic (Czech and Slovak: ''Česko-Slovenská republika''), existed for 169 days, between 30 September 1938 and 15 March 1939. It was c ...

s and during the

Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a partially-annexation, annexed territory of Nazi Germany that was established on 16 March 1939 after the Occupation of Czechoslovakia (1938–1945), German occupation of the Czech lands. The protector ...

. It helped establish top photo-reporters of the 1930s, such as Karel Hájek,

Václav Jírů Václav Jírů (31 July 1910 – 28 June 1980) was a Czech photographer and writer. He is known for his photographs of Prague. In 1957, he founded the quarterly photography magazine ''Fotografie'' and served as its editor-in-chief until 1972. B ...

and Ladislav Sitenský. Published and printed by Grafické závody ('Graphic Works') by Václav Neubert and Sons, based in

Smíchov Smíchov () is, since 1922, a district and cadastral area of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History It was only on 22 February 1903, that Smíchov was elevated to ...

, Prague it was issued in 963 numbers.

Establishment

''Pestrý týden'' was founded by Karel Neubert, who managed it until its demise in 1945. In English, the title may be translated as 'Colourful', 'Variegated' or 'Prismatic Week'. The editorial circle in the first years consisted of: journalist

Milena Jesenská Milena Jesenská (; 10 August 1896 – 17 May 1944) was a Czech Republic, Czech journalist, writer, editor and translator. She is noted for her correspondence with the author Franz Kafka and was one of the first to translate his work from the ...

, graphic artist Vratislav Hugo Brunner, painter, poet and founding member of

Devětsil The Devětsil () was an association of Czech people, Czech avant-garde artists, founded in 1920 in Prague. From 1923 on there was also an active group in Brno. The movement discontinued its activities in 1930 (1927 in Brno). History Founded as Um ...

Adolf Hoffmeister, and publisher Karel Neubert. This group of editors sought to create an intellectual magazine. At the end of the 1920s, this editorial office was replaced by a group around Jaromír Johna, under whom it was transformed from an élite revue into a pictorial family weekly for the middle classes. Thanks to this new focus, the circulation of ''Pestrý týden'' increased to hundreds of thousands of copies in a short time and it was able to establish itself against considerable competition from other First Republic periodicals ''Pražský ilustrovaný zpravodaj'', ''Letem světem'', ''

Světozor __NOTOC__ ''Světozor'' ("Seeing the World") was a Czech language, Czech-language illustrated magazine published in 19th and 20th century. History and profile ''Světozor'' was created by Pavel Josef Šafařík in 1834. Šafařík was inspired b ...

'', ''Ahoj'', ''Star'', ''Světový zdroj zábavy'', ''Eva'', ''Hvězda československých paní a dívek'' and ''List paní a dívek''.

Zenith

''Pestrý týden'' peak years were 1938–1939 during which its "flawless

gravure printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabon ...

, as well as comprehensive articles and columns from home and abroad" made it qualitatively the equal of contemporaneous world weekly picture magazines. During a tense period in Czech history it excelled in printed picture reportage by top Czech photographers to an extent unprecedented in competing papers.

During the Protectorate

From 1940, ''Pestrý týden'' was the official organ of ('Joy of Life'), the sole socio-political movement in the

Protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...

National Partnership The National Partnership (, NS, ) was the only authorized political party in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Membership was mandatory for all Czech male full-aged citizens of the Protectorate. The party was established as a reaction ...

. The period marks a gradual decline in quality. Under the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

protectorate, the magazine diverged from its news function, with the exception of ideologically distorted news from Germany, and instead covered more general stories. Publisher and editor-in-chief Karel Neubert did his best not to promote

Nazi ideology Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was freque ...

more than he was forced to by the authorities.Móda v ulicích protektorátu. (2013). (n.p.): Grada Publishing a.s.

Cessation

''Pestrý týden'' ceased publication just before the outbreak of the Prague uprising in 1945. In less than a month, the former editors formed a new news weekly called ''Svět v obrazech'' ('The World in Pictures').Str̆edisko. (1987). Czechia: Profil.

Prominent contributing photographers

Bibliography

* Vilgus, Petr: ''České ilustrované časopisy mezi roky 1918–1945 na příkladu Pražského ilustrovaného zpravodaje a Pestrého týdne'', Praha 2007
available online.
* Vilgus, Petr: ''Pestrý týden'', 2. listopadu 1926 – 28. dubna 1945 : Vznik, existence a zánik nejlepšího ilustrovaného týdeníku první a druhé Československé republiky an období Protektorátu Čechy a Morava, Praha-Opava 2001,
available online.

References

External links

Digitised copies of ''Pestrý týden'' at Digitální knihovně
{{italic title Magazines published in Czechoslovakia Weekly magazines 1926 establishments in Czechoslovakia 1945 disestablishments in Czechoslovakia