Munich - US publisher Conde Nast said Wednesday it was closing down the German edition of its glossy magazine Vanity Fair.

The weekly, aimed at intellectual followers of fashion, will appear for the last time this week, a spokeswoman said in Munich.

The German edition began in February 2007 with a huge advertising campaign. The mix of political features and advice on style was initially unfamiliar to German readers, but was quickly accepted.

In a statement, Conde Nast chief executive Jonathan Newhouse said the drastic decline in the economic environment forced the closure and said this had not been foreseeable only a few months ago.

"It's a shock when an excellent magzazine closes," he said in the German version of the statement. In December, Newhouse had said Vanity Fair would be continued despite business difficulties.

The editorial team for the German Vanity Fair is based in Berlin. Its recent circulation figure showed 200,000 copies sold per week. Conde Nast has several other German titles including Glamour, Myself and GQ Style. (dpa)