A bridge builder

In summer 1942, Gottlieb Duttweiler launched the cooperative publication Wir Brückenbauer, for which he regularly penned the lead story. The weekly newspaper also solved the problem Migros was facing with their ads: the press frequently refused to run them.

After the change of Migros AG to a cooperative, Gottlieb Duttweiler wants to launch a newspaper “for our over 100,000 cooperative members”. But the timing, in the middle of the Second World War, is inappropriate. Paper as a raw material is scarce, and Duttweiler fights for months with the authorities in Berne for permission.
At last, on 30 July 1942, the first edition of Wir Brückenbauer appears. It carries the title Wochenblatt des sozialen Kapitals and is free to cooperative members. Week after week, Duttweiler writes the leading article, which is usually strictly edited by his colleague, the economist Elsa F. Gasser. Initially, the newspaper has just four pages, but it grows step by step into a comprehensive newspaper. In addition to Migros themes, social, political and cultural matters are examined from the viewpoint of Migros. A special service offers a page for women with advice and letters, and a page for children; later comes a feature page on entertainment. Thus, the Brückenbauer is an important contributor to the inclusive feeling of the ‘Familie M’.
The cooperative’s newspaper solves the problem of the refusal of many newspapers to take Migros advertising. Here, almost unlimited and cheaper advertising space is available. And so, the simple text advertisements of the early years are soon replaced with whole page, often multi-colour advertisements.
In May 2004, the now relatively tired Brückenbauer gets a major overhaul and is reborn as Migros Magazine.