Pictorial broadsheets: popular leaflets for the common people
News News blog
In the 18th and 19th centuries, illustrated broadsheets were one of the first mass media for the general public. The hand-coloured broadsheets on cheap paper offered entertainment, instruction and up-to-date news for people who were often illiterate at the time.
The motifs varied from images of saints and portraits of rulers to educational illustrations. Views of cities, landscapes and reports on current events such as wars or natural disasters were particularly popular. The colourful pictures were explained in simple words and rhymes. The single-sided printed sheets were often used as cut-out and craft sheets or cheap wall decorations,
Around 300 print shops throughout Europe catered to the great demand for the inexpensive picture sheets. The centres were Épinal in France and German cities such as Neuruppin, Nuremberg, Augsburg and Munich. The best-known company was the Gustav Kühn print shop in Neuruppin, whose slogan "Neu-Ruppin, zu haben bei Gustav Kühn" (New Ruppin, available from Gustav Kühn) epitomised picture sheets for decades.
Today, the historical illustrated sheets are relatively rare and highly sought-after by collectors and can be admired in museums. They provide a vivid insight into the world of ordinary people in the past and were pioneers of photojournalism.
