Blue Journey
The View of East European Space 1951–1955
Sebastian Lentz, Stella Schmid
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
From the resumption of publication in 1951 until the end of 1955, the journal Osteuropa had as its cover a silhouette of Eastern Europe against a blue background. One saw the excerpt of a world map produced using the Mercator projection. This had the drawback of faithfully reproducing surfaces only along the equator. The closer the map came to the poles, the greater the distortion. Vis-à-vis northern Siberia, India appears absurdly small. Intentionally or unintentionally, this map conveys differing views of Eastern Europe. It could visualize a political definition of Eastern Europe that embraces not only Soviet Union but also the People's Republic of China. At the same time, it could have served in the Cold War era to depict the communist threat. No less unlikely is that is simply a graphic means of representation. The woodcut style, almost expressionist in its portrayal of Eastern Europe, speaks for this theory.
(Osteuropa 12/2005, pp. 133–138)