Hansen, Schou & Weller

Back of a Carte de Visite from the company, with the owner and address printed on it. Handwritten dedication by the singer Mariano Padilla for the critic Max Kurnik .

Berkentinsches Palais in Copenhagen, seat of the studio since 1885

Hansen, Schou & Weller was the name of a photo studio in Copenhagen . Many celebrities were portrayed there in the last decades of the 19th century.

history

The portrait painter Niels Christian Hansen , his brother Georg Emil Hansen and the lieutenant and businessman Albert Schou founded the studio on December 1, 1867. It was initially called Hansen & Schou . Clemens Weller , originally from Germany, became her business partner on September 30, 1869, but had already worked as a photographer. Originally a bookbinder, he learned the photography trade from Georg Emil Hansen.

On April 14, 1869, Hansen, Schou & Weller became supplier to the royal court . In 1872 the company took part in the Nordic Industrial and Art Exhibition in Copenhagen. In later years the studio was only called Hansen & Weller . The studio was located at Østergade 15 until 1885, after which it moved to the former Berkentinsche Palais (Palais Schimmelmann ), Bredgade 28. Clemens Weller was ultimately the sole owner. He mainly photographed nobles and celebrities. After his death, he left around 360,000 carefully packaged photo plates.

Many of the portraits are now in the Danish Royal Library in Copenhagen, others are in the ETH Zurich picture archive , in the Royal Collection and the National Portrait Gallery in London .