Alfred Boppel

Alfred Boppel

Alfred Boppel (born August 1, 1872 in Gmünd ; † December 29, 1951 there ) was a German photographer and printer in Schwäbisch Gmünd . He was the son of the photographer Wilhelm Boppel and the cousin of the somewhat older photographers Johannes Boppel and Stefan Krill .

Life

Alfred Boppel was the third of Wilhelm and Marie Boppel's five children. As the only child he was trained as a photographer by his father in the second half of the 1880s. He then worked with him until his death in December 1896. After that, his father's studio in Sonnengässle passed into the possession of his mother, and Alfred Boppel continued to run it together with her until her death in 1915 under the previous company name of W. Boppel, Gmünd . Like his father, Alfred Boppel trained apprentices from the start. His first apprentice was the later successful Gmünder photographer Franz Schweizer .

The situation in Gmünd was difficult for photographers at that time. In 1897, that of Jean van Daalen was added to the business of Carl Jäger and Stefan Krill . Although Alfred Boppel was, like his father, a good portrait photographer, he and his mother were forced to continue the textile business that their grandfather and father Johann Franz founded next to his glazier in the main building directly at Bocksgasse 777, and which was precisely this textile business for them the main source of income.

Alfred Boppel was open to the technical innovations and by the end of the century he had the studio equipped with electrical lighting, which was used in bad weather. The light pressure technique he mastered well and used in the production of postcards. Since only a few of his postcards have survived, it must be assumed that his collotype products made only a small contribution to his business success.

In February 1909, Alfred Boppel married Maria Josefine Schmid (1878–1963). Because his father never acquired citizenship in Gmünd, Baden citizenship was also entered for him when the marriage was officially recorded.

The difficult situation for photographers in Schwäbisch Gmünd continued in the 20th century. Alfred Boppel was forced to run a peddling with "white and short wares" on the side. It is not known whether he also offered pictures like the early traveling photographers.

It was not until 1915 that the studio finally came into his possession and it was only at this point that Alfred Boppel began to sign the photos with his own name. It is noteworthy that the Alfred Boppel company became a member of the “Süddeutsche Photographenverein” in the year it was founded.

Alfred Boppel used the same studio well into old age. He had several children, but none of them became a photographer. In 1950, relatively shortly before his death at the age of 79, he ceded the studio to the photographer Hildegard Faerber.

The photographic legacy of Alfred Boppel (similar to his father's case) is - considering the long period of his activity - surprisingly meager. It can be assumed that the existing negative material was underestimated in its value when the business was closed and that it was disposed of. Only a small remainder of unmarked glass negatives was given to the Schwäbisch Gmünd City Archives. Due to the copyright regulations to which Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia are subject, none of his photos may be published here until the end of 2021. Occasionally his photos can be found on the internet, especially on ebay .

The tombstone of Alfred Boppels, his wife, three of his children and one of his daughter-in-law is still in the Leonhard cemetery in Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Johannes Schüle: Gmünder Photographen , p. 28.
2. ↑ Johannes Schüle: Gmünder Photographen , p. 33.
3. ↑ Johannes Schüle: Gmünder Photographen , p. 28 quoted from the trade directory, section I, in the Schwäbisch Gmünd city archive .
4. ↑ Compare this offer on ebay from May 10, 2013, last accessed on July 15, 2013.
5. ↑ Boppels tombstone .

literature

• Johannes Schüle: Gmünder Photographers. The early days of photography in Schwäbisch Gmünd , Einhorn-Verlag: Schwäbisch Gmünd 2002, ISBN 3-927654-94-9 .

Web links

Commons : Alfred Boppel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files