[2] Illustrirte Zeitung was founded by Johann Jakob Weber in Leipzig in 1843.

[1][3] The Illustrated London News[4] and L'Illustration which was published in Paris were the two models for the magazine which were both successful commercial enterprises.

[1] It mostly covered news on daily affairs, public and social life, science and art, music, theatre and fashion.

[7] At the initial phase of the magazine, however, it was hard for Johann Jakob Weber to find quality photographs to publish in the magazine due to the lack of good illustrations produced in Germany.

[8] Illustrirte Zeitung also included the theater-related essays by Roderich Benedix, Eduard Devrient, Heinrich Laube and Richard Wagner.