Its title was a reference to Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung which was an influential German publication at the beginning of the 20th century.

[3] The magazine came out weekly and covered various topics, including politics, health-related issues, movies, novels and picture stories designed for children.

[2] Another topic covered was the reasons of divorce in East Germany,[4] technological advances in the communist countries and socialist heroes.

[5] All these topics were accompanied by photographs[1] and featured to influence the perspectives of the East Germans in line with the official ideology of the state.

[2][3] Following the German reunification it was acquired by the Gruner + Jahr publishing house and folded in October 1991.