Heinrich von der Becke

Heinrich von der Becke (born March 20, 1913 in Dresden , † June 25, 1997 in Berlin ) was a German sports photographer. His pictures of Jesse Owens for the 1936 Olympic Games are known worldwide. In the course of his life Heinrich von der Becke created around 65,000 black-and-white prints , 1.2 million negatives , around 2000 color films with a corresponding card index and extensive film legends. Its flat cap is one of the most famous trademarks .

Life

Heinrich von der Becke received his first camera, an Agfa Billy , as a gift from a heirloom from Dresden at the age of 12 . With this the first successful photos were taken. With the aim of becoming a press photographer , he signed an apprenticeship contract in 1928 with the Max Schirner sports picture agency , the well-known "old master of Berlin sports photography". Heinrich von der Becke took his first pictures at the "Berlin Forest Run Championships" with a 9/12 plate camera . At this event, his first sports photo was taken, which was published in a newspaper.

Heinrich von der Becke moved from the Max Schirner sports picture agency to the Berlin press picture center in 1935, where he worked until 1939. From the beginning of the Second World War he was a tank hunter with the 68th Infantry Regiment. After the attack on Poland and his deployment at the Siegfried Line , he was deployed as an infantryman due to several wounds and after rehabilitation at the “War School Potsdam” and “War School in Schwerin”. He left this on April 1, 1945 and settled in Berlin.

From 1945 he worked temporarily for the " Berliner Zeitung " and went on reporting trips to the Soviet-occupied zones . On October 18, 1945, he registered his trade as a press photographer and, together with his wife Theresia, opened his business premises at Lietzenseeufer 3 in Berlin-Charlottenburg . In the first few years after the end of the war, Heinrich von der Becke was mainly concerned with documenting the destruction and reconstruction in the four sectors of Berlin. From around 1950 u. a. the Berlin newspapers “ Der Tagesspiegel ”, “ Berliner Morgenpost ”, “ Neues Deutschland ”, “ Tribüne ” or “ BZ ” were among the regular buyers of his work, but he himself concentrated more and more on sports photography. In the following years he could be found at all important events in and outside the city of Berlin. An “ Exakta Varex ” was always used for his sports recordings . His standard equipment also included a " Rolleicord " in the format 6 × 6 cm and later a " Rolleiflex Synchro-Compur".

Until 1976 he took part as a photographer in 15 Summer and Winter Olympics. A large number of celebrities stood in front of his camera, u. a. Max Schmeling , Bubi Scholz , the running idols Paavo Nurmi and Emil Zátopek , Sepp Herberger and Sonja Henie .

With the dedication with which he devoted himself to sport, pictures of the development of his hometown Berlin were created during the long period of his work. Outstanding are his photos of June 17, 1953 , of the construction and course of the Berlin Wall from 1961 and of the visit of the then US President John F. Kennedy to West Berlin in 1963.

Until 1992 he was still active as a sports photographer, but afterwards he also devoted himself to photography. The Berlin City Views, taken in July 1995 from the Berlin radio tower , are among his last works.

Heinrich von der Becke died in Berlin in June 1997 after a brief, serious illness. In the same year, the Sports Museum Berlin acquired its entire picture archive and large parts of its photo and laboratory equipment. Various pictures of him were exhibited in the exhibition " Picasso with the Camera" (Sports Museum Berlin).

The three children Georg, Lutz and Wolfgang came from his marriage to Theresia “Thea” von der Becke (born April 13, 1911; † May 5, 2008).

Every year the city sports association Sankt Augustin (Bonn) awards the "Heinrich von der Becke Prize".

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personal data
SURNAME	Becke, Heinrich von der
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German sports photographer
DATE OF BIRTH	March 20, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH	Dresden
DATE OF DEATH	June 25, 1997
Place of death	Berlin