Almost two years after the attack of January 2015 that decimated a large part of its team, Charlie Hebdo is launching a new edition in Germany, a country where it counts many fans.
Why Germany?
« We chose Germany because it's where we were the most welcome when we gave conferences, and it's where the "numéro des survivants", released one week after the attacks, had the most success outside of France, selling 70 000 copies. Even today, over a thousand of our German neighbors read the French version of Charlie Hebdo every week," explain the team on its website.
Editor and cartoonist Riss has been working on the German version for over six months. "There is a real curiosity in Germany about what we are doing, which is not the case for instance in Britain, Spain or Portugal," he said to AFP.
The German Charlie Hebdo will mostly have translated content from the original version to start with, but Riss hopes to put together a team of German cartoonists.
Angela Merkel on the cover
On the first cover of the German Charlie Hebdo, Chancellor Angela Merkel lays on the platform of a mechanic, like a car. It says : "Volkswagen supports Merkel" and the mechanic says "A new exhaust pipe and we'll be good for another four years".
Angela Merkel also stars on the poster announcing the arrival of the German Charlie Hebdo. Sitting on a toilet, she reads a Charlie Hebdo where she's on the cover, asking herself if she can lead both Germany and France.
The magazine that she's holding is a past issue, with a cover created by Charb, who used to be the editor of Charlie Hebdo before he was killed in the 2015 attack.
A controversial magazine
very critical of politic and religion, Charlie Hebdo often attracts the wrath of Muslims, as well as Christians.
"Charlie Hebdo is kind of an extra terrestrial… its humour is a little cynical, disillusioned. There is a pessimism in our drawings but we try to laugh about it," said Riss to AFP. We'll see soon enough if this type of humour will work as well in Germany as it does in France.
