About Laura

Laura

Laura is a weekly German women's magazine published by the Bauer Media Group from its editorial headquarters in Hamburg. Launched in the mid-1990s, it belongs to the segment of entertaining and informative women's magazines, with an editorial focus on service topics such as fashion, beauty, wellness and nutrition. Aimed at young, modern and active women, Laura appears every Wednesday and combines practical everyday advice with light entertainment. The magazine's editor-in-chief is Viola Wallmüller, and its official website is laura.de.

Overview

Laura is published weekly by the Bauer Achat KG, part of the Bauer Media Group, and is sold at newsstands, in supermarkets and by subscription throughout Germany. It is positioned as a service-oriented women's weekly: rather than leading with royalty reporting like some of its Bauer stablemates, Laura foregrounds practical content for everyday life — cooking, health, beauty, fashion and home — alongside entertainment pages.

The magazine's core target group is described by the publisher as young, modern and active women under forty, though readership data suggests the actual audience skews somewhat older, with an average age in the early fifties. Around ninety percent of readers are women. The title reaches a solid mid-market position in the crowded German women's weekly segment, where it competes with titles from Burda, Funke and Klambt as well as Bauer's own portfolio.

Laura's editorial tone is upbeat, approachable and deliberately practical. The magazine presents itself as a companion for a conscious, active lifestyle: its readers are described in media data as fit, active and living deliberately, with a strong interest in lifestyle, food, fashion and beauty. Each issue mixes recipes and nutrition advice with fashion spreads, wellness features, relationship topics and light celebrity coverage.

History

Laura was first published in January 1995 — English-language sources date the very first issue to 11 January 1995, while the German Wikipedia gives 1996 as the launch year, a small discrepancy that reflects the title's quiet market entry. It arrived in a German women's magazine market that was already densely populated but still growing. The mid-1990s were a period of expansion for the Bauer Media Group's women's portfolio, and Laura was conceived as a modern, service-driven alternative to the more royalty-centred weeklies — a magazine for younger women who wanted practical guidance for work, family and leisure rather than primarily aristocratic photo features.

The title established itself quickly and has been published continuously ever since, appearing every Wednesday. Over the years it has spawned a sister publication, Laura Wohnen kreativ, a monthly interiors magazine published from Munich that extends the Laura brand into home and living topics and likewise addresses young, modern women.

The magazine's circulation history mirrors the broader trajectory of the German print market: solid figures through the late 1990s and 2000s, followed by gradual decline as readers migrated to digital sources. In the fourth quarter of 2014, the average paid circulation stood at 165,926 copies, of which only around 5.8 percent — some 9,637 copies per issue — went to subscribers, underlining the title's historic dependence on kiosk sales. By the second quarter of 2024, circulation was reported at 64,240 copies, and by the fourth quarter of 2024, IVW reported sold circulation of 56,629 copies and distributed circulation of 59,860 copies. The title has nonetheless maintained its weekly Wednesday rhythm and its editorial identity throughout, a continuity that few women's weeklies of its generation can claim.

Viola Wallmüller serves as editor-in-chief, leading the Hamburg-based editorial team within Bauer's German magazine operations.

Content and Programming

Each issue of Laura follows a service-led structure. Food and nutrition form a major pillar: the magazine publishes recipes for everyday cooking and special occasions, diet and healthy-eating features, and practical kitchen advice. The recipes are tested for home kitchens and presented with step-by-step photography, reflecting the title's hands-on ethos.

Fashion and beauty coverage is aimed at real-life wardrobes rather than runway fantasy. Features present affordable, wearable looks, seasonal trends translated for everyday use, and beauty routines with product recommendations across price ranges. Wellness and health topics — from fitness and sleep to mental balance and preventive care — are treated in an encouraging, non-technical style.

The entertainment component includes celebrity news, human-interest stories, short fiction and puzzles, giving the magazine the relaxed, browsable quality expected of a weekly. Relationship and psychology features address partnership, family and friendship in a supportive tone. Horoscopes, reader letters and competitions round out the classic weekly-magazine apparatus.

A distinctive feature of the Laura brand is its connection to home and living through the sister title Laura Wohnen kreativ, which carries decorating ideas and design suggestions. The two titles cross-promote, and Laura itself regularly includes interiors content, reinforcing the brand's positioning around a well-organised, aesthetically pleasing everyday life.

Coverage and Audience

Laura is distributed nationally across Germany, with its Wednesday publication day giving it a fixed slot in the weekly shopping routine of its readers. The magazine's audience is predominantly female — around ninety percent, according to publisher media data — with an average age of about fifty-one and an average monthly household net income of around 3,367 euros (b4p 2024 figures). Readership stands at roughly 413,000 readers.

The audience profile is attractive to advertisers in the food, beauty, health, fashion and household categories. Laura's readers are described as health-conscious and consumption-oriented, with an interest in quality products and an active lifestyle. The magazine's media data emphasises the readers' appreciation of inspiring, creative content and practical tips for a balanced, fulfilling life.

Within Bauer's women's portfolio, Laura occupies the modern-service niche between the royalty-led weeklies and the more downmarket entertainment titles. Its direct competitors include Burda's Lisa and Funke's titles, though Laura's specific blend of food, wellness and practical service content gives it a recognisable profile.

Ownership

Laura is owned and published by the Bauer Media Group, the Hamburg-based media conglomerate whose German magazine portfolio spans TV guides, youth titles, women's weeklies and special-interest magazines. The magazine is formally published by the Bauer Achat KG, with the editorial office in Hamburg.

Bauer's ownership provides Laura with shared infrastructure — from photo production to distribution and digital platforms — and with the stability of a family-owned publisher that has maintained its print portfolio through the industry's digital transition. The editor-in-chief Viola Wallmüller leads the title within Bauer's German publishing organisation.

The sister magazine Laura Wohnen kreativ is published monthly from Munich, extending the brand's reach into the interiors segment while remaining under the Bauer umbrella.

Digital Presence

Laura's official website at laura.de extends the magazine's service journalism online, with recipes, beauty tips, health articles and entertainment news published between print issues. The site carries subscription offers for the print and digital editions and serves as the brand's digital shop window.

The magazine is present on social media, where it shares food inspiration, lifestyle content and issue highlights with its community. E-paper and digital subscription options are available for readers who prefer screen reading. As with many women's weeklies, the print edition remains the economic core of the title, but the digital channels provide additional reach — particularly among the younger end of the target group — and a platform for the brand's extensive archive of recipes and service content.

The website field in this profile reflects the title's official online home as listed in its Wikipedia entry. Like its Bauer stablemates, Laura's print and digital operations share editorial resources, with the Hamburg newsroom producing content for both the weekly issue and the website's rolling coverage of food, lifestyle and entertainment topics.