page_title: Ernst Keil
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Ernst Keil / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Villa des Verlegers der Illustrirten Zeitung Ernst Keil, Leipzig, Goldschmidtstraße, ehemals Königstraße 33. Erbaut 1861 durch Lippsius, zerstört beim Luftangriff der Alliierten 1943. Heute steht nur noch das zum Ensemble gehörige Seitengebäude (heute Talstraße 7) sowie das hinter der Villa errichtete ehemalige Papierlager.English: Villa Ernst Keil, Leipzig
context_page_description: Ernst Victor Keil 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 Die Gartenlaube, 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, Gartenlaube 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.
context_section_description: On the pages of Die Gartenlaube, Keil published countless articles on culture, politics, landscape, industry, technology, history, and other topics directed at all segments of German society. In the process the magazine became inextricably linked to Germany's complicated efforts to forge a national identity. Keil's publication was often contradictory: traditional and modern, liberal and fiercely nationalist, romanticized and enlightened. It thus served both as the public repository for German myths and ideals, as well as a primary source for new national images before, during and after German unification. As such it is a rich source of information for cultural historians and occupies "a special place in German press history."
  Goethe was featured 75 times in print and 14 times in illustrations, and Schiller was featured 90 times in print and 15 times in illustrations. Among the other works published by Keil, Carl Ernst Bock's Book of Healthy and Ill Humans and the novels of E. Werner are the most notable. Publication of works by novelist E. Marlitt in serial form, such as Goldelse beginning in 1866, had a significant impact on Marlitt's celebrity.
  His publishing business, which passed into the possession of the widow Keil after Ernst's death in 1878, was taken over at the end of 1883 by Kröner Brothers in Stuttgart. Parts of the book publishing business, including the works of Marlitt and Werner, were taken over by Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft.
  On July 21, 1921, a new street in the Lindenau district of western Leipzig was named for him: Ernst-Keil-Straße. It still exists today.
  Ernst Keil's home in Leipzig, the Villa Keil, 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.
caption: Villa Keil at Goldschmidtstraße 33 Leipzig. It was largely destroyed during World War II bombing.
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