The bulbous nose trio from the GDR celebrates 70 years of “Mosaik”

The goblins Dig, Dag and Digedag were supposed to stand up to Mickey Mouse, among others, east of the wall. In 1955, the first issue of the comic magazine “Mosaik” with the three heroes appeared in East Berlin. In contrast to most other print media in the GDR, it survived the fall of the Berlin Wall well. Next year the publication, once in short supply, will be 70 years old.

“Such a remarkable event needs to be celebrated – twelve times. So once every month,” the Berlin publisher Mosaik announced, one stone at a time. “Mosaik” is the oldest of the German comic magazines currently published.

The word “comic” was once taboo

The leadership of the young GDR feared that the colorful comic books from the West would contribute to the brutalization of the youth, the Berlin GDR Museum describes on its website. The youth organization FDJ recognized the potential of the new medium and demanded its own series of magazines to differentiate it from Western comics. However, the word “comic” was taboo. Instead, the magazines offered “picture stories”.

“Mosaik” first appeared in December 1955. The graphic artist Hannes Hegen created the heroes Dig, Dag and Digedag. They traveled to different countries. Even in those that were out of reach for most GDR citizens. There was also time travel, for example to ancient Rome. After a dispute with the Junge Welt publishing house over economic issues, Hegen left in 1975. This was the end of Digedags – after 229 issues.

The Abrafaxes and a promise

Abrax, Brabax and Califax have been on the road since January 1976. According to the publisher, the circulation at that time was 705,000 copies. The very first Abrafaxe issue was called “The Secret of the Grotto.” The Harlequin announces that the bulbous nose trio will from now on accompany the jokers of the world – including Till Eulenspiegel. But readers had to wait almost 50 years for this.

At the beginning of next year, the promise will now be fulfilled, publisher spokesman Robert Löffler revealed to the German Press Agency. “The Abrafaxes take a leap in time to Till Eulenspiegel.” Readers kept asking about him. 2025 is the 50th year of adventure for the Abrafaxes.

Many people will get to know a new side of Eulenspiegel. I thought it was important that he wasn’t a puppet, but rather very prickly,” reports Jens-Uwe Schubert. The 61-year-old has been dreaming up the adventures of the Abrafaxes since 1991. “We always try to move away from the cliche of a character.”

How the stories are created

In order to stay as close as possible to the historical facts, Schubert did a lot of research. “Many old books have now been digitized, which makes my work easier. But we also buy antiquarian things.” Editorial director Maren Ahrens emphasizes: “We tell historical contexts along the way.”

Schubert’s texts are then illustrated by the seven illustrators – still by hand. They mostly work on paper, but recently there have also been some drawing tablets available.

The draftsman team sits on one floor of a villa in the west of Berlin, where the publishing house is based. Next year it will be a little more crowded: because of the anniversary, two more illustrators were hired, as editor Klaus D. Schleiter reports.

He took over the magazine together with Anne Hauser-Thiele in 1991 and thus saved it. The “Mosaic” was published by the GDR publishing house Junge Welt, which was liquidated after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Hauser-Thiele and Schleiter had a joint advertising agency.

East Germans who emigrated among the subscribers

Schleiter says about the comic book: “The stories we tell should make readers say “Wow, I didn’t know that.” The magazine is a family magazine. According to the publisher, the circulation is currently around 110,0000 issues – including 40,000 by subscription. The subscribers also include East Germans who have emigrated to places like Australia and Norway.

For comparison: The youth magazine “Bravo”, which is half a year younger than “Mosaik” and also appears monthly, had a sold circulation of around 50,000 magazines in the third quarter of 2023, according to the Information Community for Determining the Distribution of Advertising Media (IVW). Of these, around 9,700 went to subscribers.

In total, the “Mosaik” team includes around 20 employees. In the coming year they will have significantly more to do: a surprise awaits readers every month, Löffler announced, without revealing any details. There is also an exclusive title for subscribers all year long. So one that is different from the magazines on the kiosk. At the end of the year the 600th “Mosaic” edition with the adventures of the Abrafaxes will be published.