Franz Josef Bohm

Franz Josef Böhm (born July 29, 1874 in Vienna , † February 8, 1938 in Mürzzuschlag , Styria ) was an Austrian art photographer, actor , theater director , manuscript collector , literary researcher, book author , feature writer , museum director and friend of the Styrian folk poet Peter Rosegger .

At a young age, Franz Josef Böhm was an actor at the theater in Pettau (now Ptuj ), Cilli (now Celje ) and Marburg (now Maribor ). In Pettau he got to know Peter Rosegger personally on the occasion of his charity performance (he played the main role in Rosegger's play “On the Day of Judgment”). In addition to his acting profession, he learned the craft of photography from a photographer friend of his. In 1899 he settled in Mürzzuschlag as a photographer on the advice and with the support of Peter Rosegger and the Mürzzuschlag post manager Toni Schruf. He quickly became known throughout the region, photographed Emperor Franz Josef during his stay in Mürzsteg and soon received imperial awards, including a kuk court photographer. Peter Rosegger was soon only photographed by Franz Josef Böhm and these pictures appeared in numerous books and magazines.

Franz Josef Böhm, together with Peter Rosegger and Toni Schruf, tried very hard to promote Mürzzuschlag in terms of culture. In 1902 he was a co-founder of the Mürzzuschlager Rosegger Society, of which he was vice-president for many years. He was also appointed honorary administrator of Rosegger's birthplace in Alpl . Franz Josef Böhm collected the manuscripts of poets and writers and became a literary researcher recognized in Austria. He was mainly concerned with Ludwig Anzengruber , Ferdinand Raimund and of course Peter Rosegger. In 1915 his book "Gedenkblätter an Ludwig Anzengruber" was published by Schottländerverlag in Breslau. He wrote numerous feature articles about Austrian personalities in many Styrian and Viennese daily newspapers. In 1925 the Mürzzuschlag municipal council commissioned him to set up a local museum. This could only be opened in 1934, whereby most of the exhibits came from the possession of Franz Josef Böhm, who also ran the museum until his death.

literature

• Hellfried Böhm: Peter Rosegger and his photographer Franz Josef Böhm, K & K court photographer and friend of Peter Rosegger. Verlag Der Apfel, Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-85450-077-3

Web links

Commons : Franz Josef Böhm  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Franz Josef Böhm in the catalog of the German National Library