Emil Meerkämper
Emil Meerkämper (born July 19, 1877 in Mülheim an der Ruhr , † December 28, 1948 in Davos ) was a German engineer and photographer who lived and worked in Switzerland. He is considered one of the most important photographers in Graubünden .
Life
Emil Meerkämper grew up in the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia . His father was the builder Anton Meerkämper, his mother Elise geb. Wallmann. After finishing school, he trained as an engineer. In 1900 Meerkämper came to Davos for a spa stay because he had lung disease. On behalf of the Kur- und Verkehrsverein, he worked as an engineer in road and bridge construction. In 1905 he married Frieda Heierli, the daughter of the master butcher Meinrad Heierli from Appenzell. The couple had three children, including Max, who also became a photographer.
Meerkämper and Friedrich Wagner opened a photo shop in the Sporthotel Post in Davos Platz in 1910 . Wagner left the company after a short time; Meerkämper led him on alone. In addition to the head office in Davos, he ran a branch in Sils Maria from the beginning of the 1920s in the summer and from 1930 to 1933 another branch in Ticino , which was not profitable. Photographers Otto Furter and Hans Steiner worked in Meerkämper's studio . The photographer Lisa Gensetter completed her training as a laboratory assistant with him. In 1923, Meerkämper separated from Frieda Heierli and married his colleague Lina Lendi, with whom he had a child.
Meerkämper mainly worked as a landscape photographer . He published reports and brochures, ran a postcard publisher and continued to work closely with the Davos Kurverein. Until his death he gave picture lectures all over Switzerland. Since he was a German citizen, relations with the locals remained tense, which got worse after the outbreak of war.
After 1930, Meerkämper's health deteriorated and photography became increasingly difficult for him. After his death in 1948, his son Max took over the business.
literature
- Christoph Bättig, Paul Hugger, Bündner Kunstmuseum (ed.): Bündner photographers, biographies and examples of works. Offizin-Verlag, Zurich 1992, ISBN 3-907495-33-0 , pp. 61-64.
Web links
- Sylvia Bärtschi-Baumann: Emil Meerkämper. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Emil Meerkämper at Europeana
- Emil Meerkämper in the photographer wiki
- Emil Meerkämper in foto-CH
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lisa Gensetter in fotoCH
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Meerkämper, Emil |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German engineer and photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 19, 1877 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mülheim an der Ruhr |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 28, 1948 |
| Place of death | Davos |