Elsbeth Gropp

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Elsbeth Gropp (born April 9, 1885 in Aachen , † January 7, 1974 in Pforzheim ) was a German portrait photographer .

Life

Elsbeth Gropp was born in Aachen as the daughter of the officer Hermann Gropp and his wife Emilie. After completing school in Cologne , Elsbeth Gropp began studying portraiture under Friedrich Fehr in 1901 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe . After completing her studies, she went to Paris in 1907 as part of a study visit . After returning to Germany in 1910, she began training at the Rheinische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Photography in Düsseldorf . Just a year later she took part in the international photo exhibition Portrait and Figure in Hamburgpart. Since 1911 she worked as a freelance portrait and fashion photographer in Cologne and opened her first photo studio in Gereonstraße in 1915 .

In 1912 she became a member of the Cologne Art Association . After taking her master's degree as a photographer in 1916, she opened a new studio in Cologne at Hohen Strasse 121–123. At the suggestion of Theo Schafgans and Kurt Schallenberg, Elsbeth Gropp was the first woman to be appointed to the newly founded Society of German Photographers (GDL), of which she was a member until 1969. Two years later she was elected to the press committee of the Society of German Photographers together with Hans Spörl and Matthias Masmann. In the 1920s she began taking portraits of actors, celebrities and Cologne personalities. At the end of the 1920s Elsbeth Gropp was organized in the GEDOK and in the Association of Cologne Photographers . She also trained photographers in her studio. Her best-known student was the future industrial photographer Ruth Hallensleben . In 1937 she moved into a new studio at Hohenzollernring 16 and at the same time took over the former photo studio of Samson & Co. in Hohen Strasse 59-61. In air raids on Cologne in 1944 both studios were destroyed. Their negative archives were also destroyed.

After the Second World War , she opened a small studio in the Schwerthof at Zeppelinstrasse 2 in 1946. Because of her popularity through her numerous exhibitions, Elsbeth Gropp was a sought-after portrait photographer in the 1950s and 1960s. She took part in numerous exhibitions, including the first photokina . In 1952 she made the contribution of the Federal Republic of Germany to the world exhibition of photography in the category human work . In 1968 Elsbeth Gropp retired at the age of 83 and initially moved to Odenthal- Blecher. She spent the last years of her life in Pforzheim, where she died on January 7, 1974.

Elsbeth Gropp was buried in the cemetery in Eutingen an der Enz .

estate

The historical archive of the city of Cologne took over the estate of Elsbeth Gropp with 71,260 negatives , 59,426 individual and 11,834 group photos, and customer books under the stock number 1476 . The estate concentrates - with a few exceptions - on the creative period between 1945 and 1968. Earlier photos are only available sporadically, as her two studios with the photographic works from 1910 to 1944 were destroyed by bombs in 1944.

Honor

In August 1953 she was awarded the Silver Badge of Honor by the Photographers' Guild for her services. On her 80th birthday in April 1965, there was an extensive appreciation of her life's achievements as a photographer by the photography press.

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1911: International photo exhibition of portraits and figures in Hamburg
  • 1912: Photo exhibition in the Cologne Museum of Decorative Arts
  • 1913: Photo exhibition in the Cologne Museum of Decorative Arts
  • 1916: Collective exhibition (painting, graphics, photography) at the Kölnischer Kunstverein
  • 1923: Exhibition by the Society of German Photographers (GDL) in Madrid
  • 1928: Photo exhibition at the Pressa in Cologne
  • 1930: Exhibition drawn or snapped? in the Cologne arts and crafts museum
  • 1930: Exhibition of the Association of Cologne Professional Photographers (VKF) in the Cologne Museum of Applied Arts
  • 1933: Exhibition of Rheinischer Lichtbildner in the Cologne arts and crafts museum
  • 1935: Exhibition of the Cologne Photographers' Guild at the Kunstgewerbemuseum
  • 1947: Exhibition of Cologne professional photographers at the University of Cologne
  • 1949: Exhibition by the Society of German Photographers at Cologne University
  • 1950: Exhibition of 75 portraits at the first photokina in Cologne
  • 1965: Exhibition of Cologne Heads at the Institut français Cologne

Portrayed personalities

Elsbeth Gropp mainly made portraits and passport photos of families from Cologne, especially from Lindenthal and Marienburg . In addition, Elsbeth Gropp was a sought-after portrait photographer for prominent figures from politics (including Konrad Adenauer , Theodor Heuss , Heinrich Brüning , Ernst Schwering ), culture (including Dominikus Böhm , Georg Meistermann , Otto Dix , Werner Bergengruen , Josef Haubrich , Günter Wand , Albert Erich Brinckmann ), economy ( Hans Gerling , Heinrich Pellenz ) and science ( Carl Diem , Christian Eckert , Hans von Haberer , Johannes Hessen , Josef Kroll , Carl Niessen , Hans Carl Nipperdey , Peter Rassow , Günter Schmölders , Rudolf Seyffert , Paul Uhlenbruck , Ernst Walb ).

literature

  • Werner Neite: Elsbeth Gropp attempt to get closer . In: Cologne Museum Bulletin. Reports and research from the museums of the city of Cologne. Contributions to the photography history of Cologne. Special issue 1995, Cologne 1995, pp. 39–44.
  • Irene Franken: Women in Cologne. The historical city guide . JP Bachem, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-7616-2029-8 , pp. 284f.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Irene Franken: Women in Cologne. The historical city guide . JP Bachem, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-7616-2029-8 , pp. 284f.
  2. ↑ Elsbeth Gropp . In: Ulrich S. Soénius (Hrsg.), Jürgen Wilhelm (Hrsg.): Kölner Personen-Lexikon. Greven, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-7743-0400-0 , p. 196.
  3. ↑ Irene Franken: Women in Cologne. The historical city guide . JP Bachem, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-7616-2029-8 , p. 285
  4. ↑ archive.nrw.de: Elsbeth Gropp , accessed on January 21, 2015
  5. ↑ archive.nrw.de Elsbeth Gropp , accessed on January 21, 2015
  6. ^ Gerhard Dietrich: Museum of Applied Arts Cologne - Chronicle 1888-1988 , Cologne 1988, sheet 1912/1
  7. ↑ archive.nrw.de: Elsbeth Gropp , accessed on January 21, 2015
  8. ^ Gerhard Dietrich: Museum of Applied Arts Cologne - Chronicle 1888–1988 , Cologne 1988, sheet 1930/1
  9. ^ Gerhard Dietrich: Museum of Applied Arts Cologne - Chronicle 1888–1988 , Cologne 1988, sheet 1935/1
  10. ↑ archive.nrw.de: Elsbeth Gropp , accessed on January 21, 2015
  11. ↑ archive.nrw.de: Elsbeth Gropp , accessed on January 21, 2015

Web link

personal data
SURNAME Gropp, Elsbeth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer
DATE OF BIRTH April 9, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Aachen
DATE OF DEATH 7th January 1974
Place of death Pforzheim