Fritz Paul (photojournalist)

Fritz Paul (born October 15, 1919 in Rudwangen, East Prussia , today's Rydwągi , Poland , † 1998 ) was a German photojournalist and theater photographer .

Live and act

Fritz Paul was born on October 15, 1919 in Rudwangen, East Prussia, as the youngest of eleven children of a farmer. When the Second World War broke out , he was studying mechanical engineering in Berlin, but in the middle of his studies he was drafted into military service by the Wehrmacht . After the end of the war, he fled from Soviet captivity in the Göttingen area and lived first in Treuenhagen, then in Geismar . Since he had wanted to become a camera designer or cameraman , but could not complete his studies, he began to experiment with still cameras and film cameras and to fulfill other requests for pictures, with which the self-taught learned routine and earned some money. In this way it came about that from 1948 he was able to work as a freelance photo journalist for the Göttinger Tageblatt , among others .

His interests were diverse, so he was constantly on the move to document events. From his childhood he brought an affinity for horses with him, which now made him take up any horse topic. He was also interested in science and technology - he had a close friendship with the chemist Otto Hahn , which resulted in several photos of the Nobel Prize winner . Whether football games, legal proceedings, social events, big politics ( Konrad Adenauer and Willy Brandt were also photographed by him) or the little curiosities, adversities and questions that were the talk of the day or became a part of reporting - he was always there. His son reported that he followed the fire department when he heard the siren. He was responsible for the content of the auto and motorsport website of the Tageblatt and from 1962 to 1981 he was the head of the Tageblatt picture editorial team. In this function, on the occasion of the "Kassel Meeting" in 1970 between Willy Brandt and Willi Stoph , the chairman of the GDR Council of Ministers , he succeeded in creating a photo series that was honored by the German Association of Journalists, Lower Saxony .

There was also a connection to art in the person of Heinz Hilpert , who was a friend of his , and the artistic director of the German Theater in Göttingen . From November 1952 to Hilpert's departure at the end of the 1965/1966 season, Paul photographed every production, the number of which is in the three-digit range and mainly includes pieces that are considered classics (from Shakespeare and Molière to Gogol , Ibsen and Hauptmann zu Kipphardt and Dürrenmatt ). He also took photos of Hilpert, privately and at work as a director and actor. The numerous photographs kept in the archive of the Akademie der Künste , Berlin include those of Brigitte Horney , Götz George , Jürgen Sidow , Günther Ungeheuer , Martin Hirthe and Armin Dahlen, for example . Also by the set designer Jan Schlubach during his work in the studio and from his finished sets. Last but not least, by Hilpert's personal theater guest Carl Zuckmayer . These contemporary documents are available to the interested public as well as researchers in the field of performing arts .

For German historical research , the amount of around 6,000 photos - further negatives that have not yet been viewed could be added - which show what happened between 1948 and 1980 in the border transit camp in Friedland near Göttingen, is of great use . His connection to the camp in Friedland arose from one of his first assignments: He was supposed to help with photos so that reports of missing persons and those who had arrived at the camp could be assigned to one another. As a result, he documented life there in all its facets, that is, the camp views, the processes, the people and the historical events, with his camera and thus increased the level of awareness and shaped the "dignified, real" appearance of the facility. Museum Friedland keeps this collection ready for visitors and all researchers.

Publications

• Christopher Spatz: Homeless. Friedland and the long shadows of war and displacement. With photographs by Fritz Paul. Ellert & Richter Verlag, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8319-0728-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Tobias Christ: 6,000 negatives and photos by Fritz Paul enrich the Museum Friedland. Photojournalist Fritz Paul had a strong bond with the former Friedland transit camp. That's why Paul's son Christian donated his late father's estate to the local museum. In: goettinger-tageblatt.de. October 24, 2019, accessed April 14, 2020 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Marie-Luise Rudolph: Fritz Paul: From 1962 to 1981 for the daily newspaper on the road with a camera. Horses were his great passion. “He knew exactly when to press the shutter release in order to photograph the animal in a perfect pose,” says Christian Paul. His father Fritz was out and about with the camera for the Tageblatt for over 30 years, from 1962 to 1981. In: goettinger-tageblatt.de. July 11, 2014, accessed April 14, 2020 .