Germany

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Leipzig, Saxony, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Leipzig, Saxony, Germany (1890s)

The Leipzig region was the arena of the 1813 Battle of Leipzig between Napoleonic France and an allied coalition of Prussia, Russia, Austria and Sweden. It was the largest battle in Europe before the First World War and the coalition victory ended Napoleon’s presence in Germany and would ultimately lead to his first exile on Elba. The Monument to the…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hesse-Nassau, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hesse-Nassau, Germany (1890s)

Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the previously independent Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), the Duchy of Nassau, the Free City of Frankfurt, areas gained from the Kingdom of Bavaria, and areas gained from the Grand Duchy of Hesse (including part of the former Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg from Hesse-Darmstadt). These regions were combined to…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hannover, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hannover, Germany (1890s)

After Napoleon imposed the Convention of Artlenburg (Convention of the Elbe) on 5 July 1803, about 35,000 French soldiers occupied Hanover. The Convention also required disbanding the army of Hanover. However, George III did not recognise the Convention of the Elbe. This resulted in a great number of soldiers from Hanover eventually emigrating to Great Britain, where the King’s German…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Baden, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Baden, Germany (1890s)

The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is named after the margraves’ residence, Hohenbaden Castle in Baden-Baden. Hermann II of Baden first claimed the title of Margrave of Baden in 1112. A united Margraviate of Baden existed from this time until 1535, when it was split into the two Margraviates of Baden-Durlach and Baden-Baden. Following a…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Upper Bavaria, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Upper Bavaria, Germany (1890s)

After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative districts (Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk)), in Bavaria called (Kreise (singular Kreis)). They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers. In the following years, due to territorial changes…
René Burri: In Germany

René Burri: In Germany

The Swiss photographer René Burri (1933 – 2014) was one of the great photojournalists of the 20th century. From 1955 (a full member from 1959), the photographer, filmmaker, and painter was a member of Magnum, and traveled all over the world on behalf of well-known international magazines. The focus of the exhibition at Kunsthalle Erfurt is his best-known and perhaps…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Alsace Lorraine, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Alsace Lorraine, Germany (1890s)

In 1871, the newly created German Empire’s demand for Alsace from France after its victory in the Franco-Prussian War was not simply a punitive measure. The transfer was controversial even among the Germans: The German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, was initially opposed to it, as he thought (correctly) it would engender permanent French enmity toward Germany. Some German industrialists did…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Nuremberg, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Nuremberg, Germany (1890s)

After the Thirty Years’ War, Nuremberg attempted to remain detached from external affairs, but contributions were demanded for the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War and restrictions of imports and exports deprived the city of many markets for its manufactures. The Bavarian elector, Charles Theodore, appropriated part of the land obtained by the city during the…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Isle of Rugen, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Isle of Rugen, Germany (1890s)

After the death of the last Slav prince, Wizlaw III, in 1325, the principality was acquired by Pomerania-Wolgast as a consequence of the 1321 inheritance agreement (Erbverbrüderung), and from 1368/72–1451 was part of the estate of a branch line, the House of Barth. This state of affairs, together with the disputes over the Danish throne that occurred at that time,…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz), Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz), Germany (1890s)

In 1772, in the First Partition of Poland, the town was acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia as Bromberg and incorporated into the Netze District in the newly established province of West Prussia. At the time, the town was seriously depressed and semi-derelict. Under Frederick the Great the town revived, notably with the construction of a canal from Bromberg to…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Riesengebirge, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Riesengebirge, Germany (1890s)

The modern names of Krkonoše (Czech), Riesengebirge (German) and Karkonosze (Polish) became widely accepted only in the 19th century. The range is also often referred to in English as the “Giant Mountains”. The Czech name “Krkonoše” is first mentioned (in the singular, as “Krkonoš”) in a 1492 record of the division of the Manor of Štěpanice into two parts. The…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Westphalia, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Westphalia, Germany (1890s)

After the defeat of the Prussian Army by the French at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 made the easternmost portion of today’s Westphalia part of the French client Kingdom of Westphalia until 1813, when the kingdom was dissolved by the Russians. While this state shared its name with the historical region, it only contained a…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Marienburg (Malbork), Prussia (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Marienburg (Malbork), Prussia (1890s)

It was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland in 1772 and became part of the newly established Province of West Prussia the following year. Prussians liquidated the municipal government and replaced it with new Prussian-appointed administration. In the early 19th century, Prussian authorities acknowledged the town’s Polish-speaking community, ensuring that priests could deliver the…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Stettin, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Stettin, Germany (1890s)

Stettin developed into a major Prussian port and became part of the German Empire in 1871. While most of the province retained its agrarian character, Stettin was industrialised, and its population rose from 27,000 in 1813 to 210,000 in 1900 and 255,500 in 1925. Major industries that flourished in Stettin from 1840 were shipbuilding, chemical and food industries, and machinery…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hartz, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hartz, Germany (1890s)

As a young man, the famous German poet, Goethe visited the Harz several times and had a number of important lifetime experiences. These included his walks on the Brocken and his visit to the mines in Rammelsberg. Later, his observations of the rocks on the Brocken led to his geological research. His first visit to the Harz awakened in him…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Wernigerode, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Wernigerode, Germany (1890s)

Wernigerode was the capital of the medieval County of Wernigerode and Stolberg-Wernigerode. In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, it became part of the Prussian Province of Saxony. The Hasseröder brewery was founded in Wernigerode in 1872. After World War II, Wernigerode was included in the new state Saxony-Anhalt within the Soviet occupation zone (relaunched in October 1949 as the German…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Pomerania, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Pomerania, Germany (1890s)

Prussia gained the southern parts of Swedish Pomerania in 1720, invaded and annexed Pomerelia from Poland in 1772 and 1793, and gained the remainder of Swedish Pomerania in 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars. The former Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania and the former Swedish parts were reorganized into the Prussian Province of Pomerania, while Pomerelia was made part of the Province of West…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Towns in Bavaria, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Towns in Bavaria, Germany (1890s)

When Bavaria became part of the newly formed German Empire, this action was considered controversial by Bavarian nationalists who had wanted to retain independence from the rest of Germany, as had Austria. As Bavaria had a heavily Catholic majority population, many people resented being ruled by the mostly Protestant northerners of Prussia. As a direct result of the Bavarian-Prussian feud,…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Harz, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Harz, Germany (1890s)

Around 1800, large swathes of the Harz were deforested. The less resistant spruce monoculture, that arose as a consequence of the mining industry in the Upper Harz, was largely destroyed by a bark beetle outbreak and a storm of hurricane proportions in November 1800. This largest known bark beetle infestation in the Harz was known as the Große Wurmtrocknis, and…