Ernst Keil

Ernst Victor Keil (6 December 1816 – 23 March 1878) was a German bookseller, journalist, editor and publisher. His early publications promoted liberal views and satirized famous politicians leading up to the German revolutions of 1848–49, resulting in government censorship and earning him a short prison stay in 1852. He then developed , a weekly illustrated magazine aimed at enlightening and entertaining the whole family, particularly the middle and lower classes of society. It became the first successful mass-market German language magazine. By the time of his death in 1878, had reached a paid circulation of 382,000 and an actual readership of at least 2 million, making it one of the most widely read publications in the world at the time. Keil's work had a significant and lasting influence on the formation of a German national identity before, during and after the unification of Germany in 1871.

Early life

Ernst Keil was born in 1816 at his parents' home on the in Bad Langensalza, Province of Saxony. The son of a retired court clerk, he attended gymnasium in Mühlhausen and after this voluntarily entered Prussian army duty in Erfurt. Even as a high school student and during his military service Keil was an active writer and supporter of the literary movement. He apprenticed at the book publishing firm in Weimar, which was closely connected with the intellectual royal court of Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Through this relationship the young Keil came to know Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

In 1837 Keil became an assistant at Weygands Booksellers in Leipzig, the second-largest city in the Kingdom of Saxony and a center for various liberal movements. He soon took up journalism alongside his professional work as a bookseller and in 1838 was appointed editor of the magazine (Our Planet), later dubbed (Wandering Star). Under Keil's leadership, Planet became one of the most widely read German language publications of its time. The journal attacked the then political situation, subsequently running into problems with censorship and the police, until political concerns as well as business considerations made it impossible for him to continue as editor.

Ernst Keil married Karoline Aston in Leipzig in 1844, with whom he had two daughters and a son.

Revolution and prison

Keil founded his own book publishing business on August 3, 1845. His first publication was a brochure on potato diseases in Börsenblatt, the official journal of the Association of German Booksellers in Leipzig. From 1846 he also began editing a monthly journal entitled (The Lighthouse), a "magazine for politics, literature and social life." Keil employed eminent writers from the democratic and liberal spectrum, including Robert Blum, Johann Jacoby, Gustav Adolf Wislicenus, Ernst Dronke, and Leberecht Uhlich. It was the first popular expression of an awakened intellectual political movement in Germany and soon became the most important publication during the , the period preceding the German revolutions of 1848–49.

After the initial success of the March 1848 revolution, censorship loosened enough that Keil and his editorial staff were able to return to Leipzig. Lighthouse became a weekly and turned entirely on the side of the revolution. As reactionary forces gained the upper hand by late 1849, a wave of investigations and press trials began. The government censored the magazine in 1851, particularly because of a sharp-tongued supplement called Lantern, which Keil kept giving new names to escape the censors: German Reich-brake, Spitz balls, Wasp and eventually Sentinel. He envisioned an illustrated weekly that would provide "intellectual exercise and education as entertainment" and serve as a "people's encyclopedia" covering a wide range of interests. Each edition would contain features by famous writers, essays on German and foreign customs, articles on science and nature, a section on human health, and a feuilleton of non-political news, art, and literary criticism. and one of the most influential publications of the 19th century.

During Keil's tenure, works by prominent German writers such as Goethe and Schiller dominated its pages and the company flourished rapidly. Over time he attracted known naturalists, scientists and technicians such as Karl Ernst Bock, Carl Vogt, Emil Adolf Rossmässler and Max Maria von Weber to his pages, turning the Gartenlaube into a major vehicle of popular science in Germany. In the literary field he employed Hermann Schmidt, Theodor Storm, Gottfried Keller, Levin Schücking and novelist Wilhelm Raabe, among others. By comparison, most daily newspapers of the period had a circulation of only 4,000. It was widely read across all the German states and could be found in German immigrant communities in the United States, German colonies, and the German-speaking communities of Latin America, especially Brazil. It kept this market supremacy for ten years after Keil's death in 1878, and at one time claimed to have the largest readership of any publication in the world.

Later life In 1871 Keil's only son Bruno died from diphtheria on a trip to Cairo. On January 1, 1878 Keil celebrated the company's 25th birthday with his employees. He died 3 months later after a short illness. The full extent of his financial support to the needy and philanthropy to education in the arts, crafts, and sciences only became known after his death. As such it is a rich source of information for cultural historians and occupies "a special place in German press history."

Ernst Keil's home in Leipzig, the , was built in 1861 after plans by architect Constantin Lipsius in the italianate style. Keil also set up his publishing firm on the site, at one time employing over 150 people and running 18 high-speed presses. The villa was severely damaged during the bombing of Leipzig in World War II and only 2 rear buildings remained. These were extensively renovated in 2011 by KSW-GmbH, resulting in 12 apartments at the corner of Goldschmidtstraße and Talstraße.

Writings Books and letters Melancholie, a romantic novel, 1845. War correspondent in the field in the German War of 1866 Bad Langensalza/Thuringia: Verlag Rockstuhl, 2016 Klinghammer's Buchhandlung (Ernst Keil), 1877. IV. 1

Articles in Die Gartenlaube To our Friends and Readers. Issue 1, 1853 Sefeloge. Issue 41, 1853 Ludwig Bechstein. Issue 42, 1853 Literarisches. Issue 43, 1853 Literarisches. Issue 48, 1853 Weihnachtsbücher. Issue 49, 1853 Literatur und Kunst. Issue 50, 1853 Literatur und Kunst. Issue 52, 1853 Schweizer Angelegenheit. Issue 1, 1857 Für Theodor Körner's Pflegerin. Issue 13, 14, 23, 1863 Brief an eine Gläubige. Issue 42, 1866 Eine literarische Freibeuterei. Issue 44, 1873 Professor Dr. Carl Ernst Bock's obituary. Issue 10, 1874 Heinrich Beta. Issue 17, 1876 Aufforderung. Issue 8, 1878