The Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi
Who we are
With 226,000 readers (MACH Basic 2023-1), the Swiss parenting magazine Fritz+Fränzi is the largest parenting magazine in Switzerland. It has been published by the non-profit Parenthood Foundation since 2001. Dr Ellen Ringier is President of the Board of Trustees. Tobias Winterberg has been Managing Director of Stiftung Elternsein since 2023.
In 2021, the publishing house and foundation celebrated their 20th anniversary. The magazine currently has a certified circulation of just under 102,527 copies and is published ten times a year.
In 2014 and 2018, Fritz+Fränzi was honoured with the «Q-Award» for the best Swiss trade magazine. In 2020, the magazine received the «European Magazine Award» in the «Indie» category. This category recognises magazines that are published without the support of a major publisher.
The editorial office and publishing house are located in Zurich.
Raising their children is a challenge for fathers and mothers in an increasingly complex world. With the Elternsein Foundation and the Swiss parenting magazine Fritz+Fränzi, Ellen Ringier opens our eyes to the concerns of parents. She is also highly committed to addressing the facets of young people, grandparents and schools - fact-orientated and without taboos. For this, she deserves my recognition and my sincere thanks.
Former Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard on the 65th birthday of publisher Ellen Ringier
Vision
Schweizer ElternMagazin aims to help strengthen the skills of parents and carers. Our popular, scientific advice magazine is aimed at parents of school-age children from the age of six, teachers and anyone interested in education. The magazine conveys well-founded educational knowledge and focuses on research, analysis, opinion and categorisation - without pointing a finger.
We want to be a lighthouse and companion for parents in both good and challenging times with their children. Our credo is: «Parents do a lot more right than they realise». We encourage and call for this: Stay calm, trust your own judgement.
The Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi has no commercial purpose. The 15 or so pages of advertising per issue only cover a small proportion of the production costs. We give away a large part of the print run - around 700,000 copies per year - to institutions and schools.
Editorial office
The print and online teams each consist of four editors - all of whom work part-time. In addition, some of the best freelance authors from Switzerland, Germany and Austria write regularly for Fritz+Fränzi. They are social and science journalists who specialise in the topics of family, parenting, health, schools and education.
We work together with a large network of experts from research and science (Jacobs Foundation, University of Applied Sciences for Special Needs Education HFH, Institute for Family Research, Fribourg and many more). The umbrella organisation of Swiss teachers LCH and the Swiss Association of School Principals VSLCH are official partners and regularly publish articles in our magazine.
Stammheft
Our magazine focuses on the areas of family and parenting, school and education, health, puberty, sexuality and media skills.
The centrepiece of each issue is a monothematic dossier of up to 25 pages.
A selection of the dossiers published so far:
- Cyberbullying
- Autism
- Nutrition
- How learning succeeds
- What makes children strong
- Puberty: Welcome, chaos!
- Education without punishment
- School - where to?
- Sexuality
- The lie of compatibility
- Bullying
- Mindfulness
- Homework
- Depression
- Parenting without scolding
- Highly sensitive
- Maths anxiety subject
- Fathers
- Psychological violence
- Jealousy
Monthly interview
In each issue, we publish a major interview with an outstanding personality from the fields of psychology, psychotherapy, education, medicine and research. For example with Allan Guggenbühl «Children need a healthy amount of neglect», Sarah Zanoni «We parents do less wrong than we think», Carsten Vonnoh «We men are still not brave enough», Annette Cina «Parents are not responsible for everything» or Veronica Graber «No matter how shameful a topic is, children can come up with anything».
Reports
An integral part of our editorial programme is the large reportage. Here is a selection of previous reports Visit to a refugee school; A day at the Littenheid clinic; The mother of an anorexic daughter tells us; Trans children: Lukas is now Lea; Mummy, what's it like in heaven? My brother is missing a part of his head
Series
We regularly publish multi-part series. Here is a selection of previously published series: Mental disorders (2014/2015 - 8 parts), ADHD (2015/2016 - 11 parts), Child and therapy (5 parts).
Parent coaching
Psychologists and learning coaches Fabian Grolimund and Stefanie Rietzler take it in turns to write the «Parent coaching» column on topics such as «The anxious child», «The shy child» and «The dreamy child». They also produce various video series on topics such as «Learning tips for children», «The strong child», « Together we are class» and «12 impulses for teachers».
Columns
The following columnists currently write for us on a regular basis: Thomas Feibel (media expert), Michèle Binswanger, Mikael Krogerus, Jesper Juul (2019†), Peter Schneider, Nicole Althaus.
Career choice special
How do young people find the right training programme after compulsory schooling? And how can parents support them in a meaningful way? These questions were at the centre of the launch of the first career choice booklet in 2015.
In 2022, «What do I want to be?» will be published for the eighth time. The special issue takes readers on the fascinating and sometimes exhausting journey of choosing a career.
The special issue is enclosed with the September issue of Fritz+Fränzi. It is aimed at school leavers, apprenticeship seekers and parents of young people who are about to choose a career.
What should I include in my application portfolio? How do I cut a good figure at a job interview? What are the professions of the future? The career choice special provides answers to these and many other questions - on 76 pages. The booklet also contains a comprehensive service section with numerous contact points, tips, links and useful information on all aspects of choosing a career.
Kindergarten programme
In 2016, the Elternsein Foundation launched its own kindergarten programme. It comprises four special issues; they are published in spring and autumn and accompany parents and their child through the two-year kindergarten period:
- KiGa 1 «Chindsgi at last» is aimed at parents whose child is starting kindergarten.
- KiGa 2 «Well settled in» is aimed at parents whose child has been in kindergarten for six months.
- KiGa 3 «Almost grown up» is aimed at parents whose child is entering the second year of kindergarten.
- KiGa 4 «Tschüss Chindsgi» is aimed at parents whose child is about to start first grade.
Around 50,000 copies of each issue are delivered free of charge to 2,700 kindergartens in German-speaking Switzerland. The Swiss Teachers' Association LCH has supported the kindergarten programme since 2016.
Website
Our new website went online on 12 October 2021 - after almost two years of preparation. The new website is search engine optimised, responsive (optimised for all mobile devices) and boasts a modern design. The centrepiece of the site is the improved reader guidance, a revised look and the new sections «Parental knowledge in 5 minutes» and «Topics by age».
The most important new features at a glance:
- New forms of content: Several hundred texts were revised and optimised for the new website as part of the relaunch. All newly published texts have also been adapted to the changed reading habits and enriched with additional elements such as «The most important information in brief» and «Overview of the topic». They provide an initial overview and make it easy for users to get started. At the same time, the redesigned visuals and numerous visual aids (videos, info boxes, image galleries) ensure a comprehensive reading experience. Users can now save longer articles in their account after logging in and read them later.
- New structure: The new website is characterised by several sections that have been specially created to introduce new users to our low-threshold content. There is now a structure of «Topics by age» and a collection of short texts under the heading «Parental knowledge in 5 minutes».
Comments on the Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi
It takes a whole village to raise a child. This is an African proverb. With its diverse programme and broad-based projects, the Parenthood Foundation lives out exactly what this proverb is trying to tell us. Supporting parents and liaising with schools and specialists provides a good basis for supporting our children and young people on their journey.
Dagmar Rösler
President of the Swiss Federation of Teachers LCH
Fritz+Fränzi is a stroke of luck for the world of education in Switzerland. I often hear from parents in my private or professional environment - how pleased they are with articles or a single issue on a particular topic and how much this content helps them in supporting their own children. Fritz+Fränzi is also an asset from a professional point of view. Experts from various fields contribute high-quality articles that make the magazine worth reading for education professionals too.
Thomas Minder
President of the Swiss Association of School Principals VSLCH
Fritz+Fränzi is a varied, entertaining read, packed with in-depth knowledge. The parenting magazine has not only accompanied me for years as an expert on family issues, but has also provided me as a mother with valuable information and suggestions along the way.
Gisela Kilde
Institute for Family Research and Counselling, University of Fribourg
Sometimes it can be helpful for parents to know more. Fritz+Fränzi makes a significant contribution to this with informative articles that are relevant to everyday life. We at Elternnotruf experience time and again in counselling sessions that the Fritz+Fränzi magazine is read and parents bring the selected topics into the counselling sessions or make reference to them. They feel inspired, encouraged, understood and not left alone with challenging family issues. We would like to thank the Elternsein Foundation from the bottom of our hearts for this valuable contribution.
Martina Schmid
Parental emergency call, counselling centre for educational issues
