Hans Retzlaff

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Hans Hermann Theodor Retzlaff (born October 4, 1902 in Berlin ; † December 1, 1965 in Tann / Rhön ) was a German photographer and documentary filmmaker.

Life

In 1929 Hans Retzlaff began working as a freelance photographer in Berlin-Charlottenburg . He mainly devoted himself to taking pictures of national costumes, but also portraits and landscapes. He also produced some films about the people and culture in various German landscapes such as Lausitz , Transylvania and the Schwalm.

Hans Retzlaff became known through photographs in newspapers, magazines, local history and folk books. Since 1934 he has published his own photo books. In the following years he worked with the National Socialist propaganda apparatus and participated, among other things, in the photo book Der Untermensch from 1942. From 1943 he worked for the assessment of bomb damage in Berlin.

In 1945 he left Berlin after losing his archive with most of the film negatives. He continued his work in Tann in the Rhön, where he built up an extensive archive of reproductions of works of art.

Works (selection)

Photo books

  • Portrait of a German peasant people. Transylvania. Border and Foreign Publishing House, Berlin 1936.
  • The Schwalm. German publishing house Bong and Co., Berlin 1936.
  • German farmers in the Banat , Border and Abroad Publishing House, Berlin 1939.
  • Maiden at work , 1940.

Photographs in other publications

  • Heinrich Kunnert: The Burgenland. German border in the southeast. With 90 photos by Hans Retzlaff. Publishing house Bong & Co., Berlin undated [approx. 1940].

Movies

  • Reich Labor Leader Konstantin Hierl and his men in the East , 1942.
  • Customs and costumes of Upper Lusatia , 1937/38.
  • Vom Hisgier, Uffertsbräuten and Pentecostal Kings , 1937/38.
  • Black Forest Spring , 1934.
  • The Transylvanian Saxons , 1934.
  • Traditional costumes from the Wendish Lausitz , 1920s, 6 minutes.

literature

  • Claudia Gabriele Philipp: German folk costumes, art and cultural history. The photographer Hans Retzlaff 1902–1965. A publication accompanying the exhibition of the same name in the Hessenpark open-air museum, Neu-Anspach from May 31 to November 18, 1987. With a contribution by Walter Dehnert. Jonas-Verlag, Marburg, 1987. ISBN 978-3-9225-6165-1
  • Ulrich Hägele, Gudrun M. König (ed.): Völkische Posen, folkloric documents. Hans Retzlaff's photographs during National Socialism. Jonas Verlag, Marburg 1999, 400 illustrations ISBN 3894452544

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Birth register StA Berlin VI, No. 1460/1902
  2. ↑ Death register StA Fulda, No. 935/1965
personal data
SURNAME Retzlaff, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Retzlaff, Hans Hermann Theodor (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer and documentary filmmaker
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 1965
Place of death Tann / Rhön