BRAVO star cutouts: cult, kitsch and collective pop history

Between 1959 and 2004, the youth magazine BRAVO published a total of 118 celebrity cutouts , composed of an incredible 2,285 individual pieces . These larger-than-life poster icons were celebrated on children's bedroom walls by generations – as heroes of music, film, or even sports.

The motifs were divided as follows:

58 singers
36 film and TV stars
20 pop groups
3 athletes
Plus a crossover star cut: Roy Black & Uschi Glas

A total of 190 people were depicted , including perhaps the most prominent "non-human": ET – the extraterrestrial . Four animal sidekicks also found their way into the motifs – including dogs, cats, and turtles.

The largest star cutout groups:

13 people: DFB World Cup team 1974
6 people: Village People , Bro'Sis
5 people: New Kids On The Block , Bay City Rollers , Duran Duran and others

Accessories played a big role:

19 headgear , 18 guitars , 7 guns ,
From the Harley Davidson (Juliane Werding) to the liana (Ron Ely as Tarzan),
From drummer half (Beatles II) to wooden stake (Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy).

The most elaborate star cut-out : Village People – with 53 individual parts .
The shortest : ET – in only 10 parts .
Fans had to wait the longest in 1965/66 – 40 issues – for the complete Beatles star cut .

Multiple honors:
Pierre Brice alias Winnetou was a three-time Starschnitt star.
Roy Black , Elvis , Shakin' Stevens , Limahl , and Nena were among those represented twice. Uschi Glas , Marie Versini , and Britney Spears also received repeat invitations to the Starschnitt universe.

The BRAVO star cutouts were much more than posters – they were status symbols, contemporary witnesses and part of a pop cultural ritual that accompanied millions of fans through their youth.

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