Günter Meyer (railway photographer)

Günter Meyer (born February 1, 1927 in Aue ; † November 11, 2015 ) was a German locomotive driver and railway photographer, who is best known for his photographs of the operations of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR. He was particularly interested in the narrow-gauge railways in the GDR.

Life and work

Günter Meyer, born in Aue in Saxony , an important railway junction, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1944. At Christmas 1945 he returned to his hometown from British captivity. He then worked as a radiometrist at the Wismut , which exploited the uranium deposits in the Ore Mountains for the Soviet occupation forces . Meyer was only able to realize his previously cherished career dream in 1955 and found a job with the Deutsche Reichsbahn, for which he worked from then on. He initially worked in Aue as a railway maintenance worker and from 1956 to 1964 successively as a train conductor , train driver and as a locomotive heater . This was followed by training as a fitter and finally as a locomotive driver . After completing his training, Meyer was employed as a locomotive driver in the Aue depot and was used on steam and, from 1976, also on diesel locomotives . In October 1990 Günter Meyer, who was a railway worker with “body and soul”, retired.

Photographic work

Günter Meyer began taking photos of railway systems and vehicles in the GDR as early as the 1950s. His photographic work is characterized by the fact that he always viewed the "railway scenery as a whole" by including the surroundings of the actual motif - such as station buildings and landscapes - and the people living with the railway - travelers, residents and especially the railway workers of work - included in his photographs. This gives the recordings a "lively character". Meyer benefited from the fact that as a railroad worker he did not take an external perspective, but rather acted as a colleague. His photographs are of great documentary value because it was forbidden to take pictures of the railway systems in the GDR until around 1970 and the ban was strictly monitored by the transport police. In 1955 Meyer came under suspicion of espionage because of his hobby and was monitored by the Ministry for State Security . He then destroyed a large part of the recordings he had made up until then. Today the Meyers collection comprises well over 100,000 photographs and reproductions.

Since the 1950s Meyer went on excursions to the narrow-gauge railways in the GDR, for example to the former Mecklenburg-Pomerania narrow-gauge railway or to the earlier Rügen small railways . On his excursions he always traveled in his uniform, which, given the circumstances at the time, made it easier to take photos and to contact the local railroad workers. Meyer, however, did not limit himself to photography. He also collected extensive information about the routes and vehicles he visited .

From the 1960s onwards, photographs by Günther Meyer were regularly published in the specialist magazine Der Modelleisenbahner, published by the transpress publishing house for transport . Meyer was also one of the authors of the two volumes of the Lokomotiv-Archive Sachsen , which were published in 1984 by the same publisher. After 1990, the Freiburg EK-Verlag published several illustrated books. Even during the division of Germany , Meyer maintained numerous contacts in the Federal Republic . Until the reunification, however, his photographs could only be published anonymously - for example under the names Moll Collection or Wenzel Collection . Meyer's photographs can also be found in many other books.

In 2006 Meyer was awarded the Claus Köpcke Prize of the Association for the Promotion of Saxon Narrow Gauge Railways for his life's work .

Works (selection)

Books

• with Fritz Näbrich and Reiner Preuß: Lokomotiv-Archiv. Volumes: Saxony 1 and Saxony 2. Transpress Publishing House for Transport, Berlin 1983.
• Prohibited Reichsbahn. The DR of the fifties and sixties. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1993, ISBN 3-88255-257-3 .
• Railway trip to the Ore Mountains. Railway romance in the Ore Mountains and Vogtland. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1994, ISBN 3-88255-258-1 . (unchanged new edition 2008)
• On a narrow lane to the north. Travel to the non-Saxon narrow-gauge railways in the fifties and sixties. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1995, ISBN 3-88255-259-X .
• Master photos from the steam locomotive era. Volumes 1 and 2: Deutsche Reichsbahn experience. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1996/1998, ISBN 3-88255-260-3 (volume 1) or ISBN 3-88255-265-4 (volume 2); Volume 3: Railway systems in Saxony. 2002, ISBN 3-88255-280-8 .
• Trains, wagons and times gone by. Memories of the variety of wagons on the Reichsbahn in the GDR. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2005, ISBN 3-88255-295-6 .
• Trains, wagons and bygone times - 2. Memories of the variety of wagons on the DR narrow-gauge railways. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-305-5 .
• Thomas Frister (Ed.): Zwickau - Johanngeorgenstadt. A journey through time with Günter Meyer. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-8446-6218-4 .

Essays

• In memoriam “lifting line”. In: The Museum Railway. Issue 3/1991, pp. 28-30.
• My memories of Fritz Hager. In: Rainer Fischer, Joachim Schulz: Fritz Hager - photo rarities of a Dresden railway worker. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-88255-290-5 , pp. 95-96.

literature

• Thomas Frister (Ed.): Günter Meyer. The life's work of the railway worker from Aue (= old masters of railway photography). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-323-9 .
• Günter Meyer: “Also banned viewing.” Experiences of an “early” railway photographer. In: Railway courier . 1/1992, pp. 56-59.
• Helge Scholz, Manfred Meyer: Steam remains steam. With Günter Meyer through Saxony. VGB Verlagsgruppe Bahn and Klartext Verlagsgesellschaft, Fürstenfeldbruck and Essen 2016, ISBN 978-3-8375-1737-8 .
• Helge Scholz, Manfred Meyer: Steam remains steam 2. With Günter Meyer to the north of the GDR. VGB Verlagsgruppe Bahn and Klartext Verlagsgesellschaft, Fürstenfeldbruck and Essen 2017, ISBN 978-3-8375-1920-4 .
• Helge Scholz, Manfred Meyer: Steam remains steam Part 3. With Günter Meyer around the Aue railway junction. VGB Verlagsgruppe Bahn and Klartext Verlagsgesellschaft, Fürstenfeldbruck and Essen 2019, ISBN 978-3-8375-1920-4 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Obituary notice. In: Freie Presse , Aue local edition, from November 13, 2015, p. 14, accessed on November 13, 2015.
2. ^ ^{A b c} Günter Meyer: From my life. In: Thomas Frister (Ed.): Günter Meyer. The life's work of the railway worker from Aue ("Old Masters of Railway Photography" series). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-323-9 , pp. 6-19.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Thomas Frister: For guidance. In: Thomas Frister (Ed.): Günter Meyer. The life's work of the railway worker from Aue ("Old Masters of Railway Photography" series). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-323-9 , p. 5.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Reiner Scheffler: My railroad friend Günter Meyer. In: Thomas Frister (Ed.): Günter Meyer. The life's work of the railway worker from Aue ("Old Masters of Railway Photography" series). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-323-9 , pp. 38–41.
5. ^ ^{A b} Günter Meyer: My acquaintance with "private" and "small". In: Thomas Frister (Ed.): Günter Meyer. The life's work of the railway worker from Aue ("Old Masters of Railway Photography" series). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-323-9 , pp. 28-37.
6. ↑ Günter Meyer: “Also viewing forbidden.” Experiences of an “early” railway photographer. In: Railway courier. 1/1992, pp. 56-59.
7. ^ Thomas Frister: Searching for traces with Günter Meyer. In: Thomas Frister (Ed.): Günter Meyer. The life's work of the railway worker from Aue ("Old Masters of Railway Photography" series). EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-323-9 , pp. 22-27.
8. ↑ Claus Köpcke Prize 2006 awarded. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Association for the Promotion of Saxon Narrow Gauge Railways, archived from the original on December 8, 2006 ; Retrieved December 25, 2016 .