About Bild der Frau

Bild der Frau

Bild der Frau ("Picture of Woman") is a German weekly women's magazine published from Hamburg. Launched on 14 March 1983 by the Axel Springer AG and sold to the Funke Mediengruppe on 1 May 2014 (the brand rights remain with Axel Springer SE), it is a full-colour magazine covering society, economics and social policy, consumer topics, fashion and beauty, health and wellness, current-affairs reportage and celebrity news. Per IVW figures for the third quarter of 2025, it sold 339,769 copies per issue with a spread circulation of 345,641, reaching around 4.34 million readers (2020). Editor-in-chief since June 2006 is Sandra Immoor.

Overview

Bild der Frau was for decades Europe's best-selling women's weekly — a newsstand phenomenon that at its 1987 peak sold 2.5 million copies per issue. Its formula combined the accessibility of the rainbow press with unusual editorial substance: the German Institute for Economics honoured it as the women's magazine with the most economics coverage, and its mix of consumer guidance, health, politics and celebrity news made it the weekly companion of millions of German women. Even after an 80.8 percent circulation decline since 1998, it remains one of Germany's highest-circulation women's titles.

History

The magazine was launched on 14 March 1983 by the Axel Springer AG — the Berlin/Hamburg publishing giant's answer to the booming women's weekly market. It grew with extraordinary speed: in 1987 it sold 2.5 million copies; in the third quarter of 1992 circulation was 2,094,000; between October and December 1994 it reached 2,108,309; in 1999 it sold 1,977,300. In 2001, with 1,663,000 copies, it ranked as the eleventh best-selling women's magazine worldwide; in 2009, with 1,021,098 copies, it was the best-selling weekly women's magazine in Europe; and in the second quarter of 2016, with 777,050 copies, it was still Germany's best-selling women's magazine.

The founding editor Andrea Zangemeister led the title for 23 years, from 1983 to 2006 — one of the longest editorial tenures in German magazine history, spanning the magazine's entire rise from launch to European market leadership. Her successor Sandra Immoor, in post since June 2006, has led the title through its most difficult era — the digital disruption, the Springer-to-Funke transition, and the long circulation decline — maintaining the magazine's identity while adapting it to a market a fraction of its former size. Two editors in four decades: Bild der Frau's editorial stability is as remarkable as its circulation history. Under both editors the magazine expanded its brand family: the spin-off Gut kochen & backen launched in 1998, Schlank & fit in 2005, and the magazine's own website went live in April 2001.

In July 2013 the Axel Springer Group sold Bild der Frau — with many other publications — to the Funke Mediengruppe; the transfer took effect on 1 May 2014. The sale was part of Springer's historic €920 million divestiture of its regional newspapers and magazines — including the Berliner Morgenpost, Hamburger Abendblatt, Hörzu and the programme guides — as the Berlin group pivoted to digital. The brand rights stayed with Axel Springer SE, an unusual arrangement reflecting the value of the Bild brand family: the magazine could be published by Funke, but the Bild name remained Springer's. The editorial office remained in Hamburg, and Funke integrated the title into its women's publishing operation alongside Hörzu, TV Digital, Frau von Heute, Neue Welt, Herzstück, Cosy, Echo der Frau and Frau aktuell — a women's and family portfolio that, with the March 2025 addition of Brigitte, Gala and Eltern, made Funke the dominant publisher of the German women's magazine market.

Since 2006 the magazine has awarded the Goldene Bild der Frau (Golden Bild der Frau) — a prize honouring non-prominent women for exceptional social engagement, recognizing courage, sustainability and commitment. The award's philosophy is distinctive in the German media landscape: where most prizes celebrate celebrities, the Goldene Bild der Frau celebrates unknown women doing remarkable things — social workers, activists, volunteers, founders. Since 2013 the award ceremony has been broadcast on Das Erste under the title Deutschlands starke Frauen (Germany's Strong Women), giving the magazine a prominent annual television presence and a socially engaged brand dimension beyond its weekly journalism. The prize has become the magazine's signature contribution to public life: a weekly that not only reports on women's lives but honours the best of them.

Content and concept

The magazine's pillars are information on social, economic and socio-political topics; consumer orientation; fashion and beauty; health and wellness; reportage on current events; and news about stars and celebrities. The combination is distinctive: where the classic rainbow weeklies focus on royalty and gossip, Bild der Frau has always given weight to practical substance — household economics, health guidance, consumer rights — earning its recognition for economics coverage. The full-colour tabloid format keeps it accessible; the Friday publication rhythm makes it the weekend's reading.

Coverage and audience

Bild der Frau's 4.34 million readers (2020) form one of the largest women's magazine audiences in Germany — a mainstream, predominantly female readership seeking practical guidance for everyday life alongside entertainment. The title's historic strength was its ability to speak to women across milieus: the economics coverage for the household manager, the health pages for the family caregiver, the celebrity news for the entertainment seeker. The circulation trajectory — from 2.5 million (1987) through 1.66 million (2000), 1.02 million (2009), 777,050 (2016) to 339,769 (2025) — charts four decades of German media history in a single title's numbers.

Ownership

Since 1 May 2014 Bild der Frau has been published by the Funke Mediengruppe in Hamburg, the Essen-based media group that acquired it from Axel Springer. The brand rights remain with Axel Springer SE — a reminder of the title's origins in the Springer empire. Within Funke, the magazine sits in the women's and family publishing operation alongside the former Springer titles Hörzu and TV Digital (acquired 2013) and, since March 2025, the former Gruner + Jahr flagships Brigitte, Gala and Eltern — making Funke the dominant publisher of the German women's magazine market.

Digital presence

bildderfrau.de, online since April 2001, extends the magazine's service journalism with articles, advice, games, shopping links, newsletters and competitions, plus a dedicated recipes app and active social media channels on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The digital offering mirrors the print mix — practical service for everyday life — while the Goldene Bild der Frau award gives the digital brand an annual high point, the televised ceremony generating coverage across all platforms. The challenge, as for all legacy weeklies, is converting the print brand's enormous historic reach into digital scale: 4.34 million print readers represent an audience most digital brands would envy, if it can be carried online — and the recipes app, newsletters and social channels are the bridges being built.

From 2.5 million copies to the digital age: Bild der Frau remains the reference title of the German women's weekly — smaller than at its peak, but still the magazine against which the segment measures itself. The Goldene Bild der Frau ensures the brand's annual moment in the national spotlight; the 4.34 million readers ensure its continued relevance; and the Friday rhythm — the weekend's reading, bought on the way home — remains one of German publishing's most durable rituals. As Funke's women's-weekly flagship, Bild der Frau continues to define what the German service weekly can be.