Hermann Guggenheim (lithographer)
Hermann Guggenheim (born November 20, 1864 in Zurich ; † February 2, 1912 there ) was a lithographer and founder of a postcard publisher .
biography
Hermann Guggenheim, born on November 20, 1864, the first of seven children of the merchant Leopold Guggenheim and his wife Louise b. Braunschweig, attended schools in Zurich. Presumably he was doing an apprenticeship as a lithographer, in any case he was noted in the Federal Census of 1880 as an “apprentice”. In the 1888 census that followed, he was recorded as “Designer Chromiste, employed by a lithographer. Frey & Conrad ”in Aussersihl (Zurich). From 1890 he ran his own studio. In 1893, together with his younger brother Jacques, he registered the company H. Guggenheim & Co., artistic studio and papers in bulk in the commercial register of the Canton of Zurich. Until his death, Hermann Guggenheim was the artist and entrepreneurial driving force behind the publishing house.
Guggenheim was valued as an active member of the Zurich Israelite Community, especially for his support for educational initiatives.
Hermann Guggenheim married Therese Wyler (1873–1952) in 1896, daughter of a Bernese department store owner. The couple had three children. The daughter Doris died in 1911 at the age of 13; In 1900 the twins Leopold Willy and Erna were born. On February 2, 1912, Hermann Guggenheim died unexpectedly of a heart attack.
Hermann Guggenheim's son Leopold Willy Guggenheim (1900–1977) became a well-known Zurich painter under the name of Varlin.
A nephew of Hermann Guggenheim, Kurt Seligmann (1900–1962), achieved international recognition as a surrealist artist. The Zurich writer Kurt Guggenheim was also a close relative; his father was a cousin of the same name of Hermann Guggenheim.
However, the printer Leopold D. Guggenheim (1865–1940) did not come from the same family ; he was active in Zurich from approx. 1898 to approx. 1916 and also published postcards.
Companies
The Zurich publisher H. Guggenheim & Co. , founded by Hermann Guggenheim, was one of the earliest picture postcard publishers in Switzerland, active from 1893 to around 1940. After Hermann Guggenheim's death in 1912, the two younger brothers Markus (* 1872, † 1940) and Emil (* 1877, † 1976) the business as a Guggenheim & Co. on. In 1945 the company was dissolved. From around 1897 the company was located on Schützengasse in Zurich, and around 1921 it was relocated to Brandschenkestrasse 43.
The publisher is interested today mainly because of its extensive production of postcards. Other lithographic products from the 1890s such as letterheads, business cards, menu cards, portraits, small albums with views of places and illustrated brochures are also documented. In the early years, Hermann Guggenheim created numerous engraved and feather lithographs that are very popular with collectors. Presumably, many of the later drawn templates also come from his hand. Guggenheim began to take photographs around 1898 and traveled to Switzerland and neighboring countries to produce postcards of well-known tourist locations.
In the course of its more than 50 years of existence, the Guggenheim publishing house has issued a wide variety of maps, both in terms of the type of illustration and the printing technology. In terms of content, the topographical maps are the most common: Views of localities and sights, black and white or colored. They can also be found on richly decorated, partially embossed passepartout or frame cards from Hermann Guggenheim's creative period. Motif cards were also popular: costumes and folklore, military and patriotic subjects, cards for national and local festive occasions. They corresponded to the zeitgeist of Switzerland in the second half of the 19th century, which Guggenheim knew how to use skillfully. It was the “golden age” of postcards, when tourism flourished and publishers competed for the favor of collectors with attractive offers. Guggenheim benefited from this trend, but also contributed to it.
Guggenheim produced and sold postcards not only for Switzerland, but also for popular travel destinations in France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Individual maps from the Zurich company are even documented from Mexico and the USA. He also produced frame cards for abroad by using appropriate local material for his templates, which were decorated with coats of arms, postage stamps and the like.
Many of the cards that were used after 1912 can be traced back to their predecessors from the time of Hermann Guggenheim. His photo archive was used by his successors for new editions, and they also bought material from external photographers and artists. The publisher continued to sell passepartout cards with local views until around 1922, but then mainly pure picture postcards.
In terms of printing technology, the Guggenheim cards reflect the development from the 1890s to the Second World War, from engraving and feather lithography with a limited color palette to colorful chromolithos, collotype black / white or colored, to bromide silver and photo postcards like us today know. After the early years and until World War I, Guggenheim had its maps printed in Germany. Thanks to mass production, the print shops in Leipzig and Berlin were able to offer low prices. Above all, the company CG Röder G. mb H. in Leipzig supplied a large part of the collotype cards from around 1900, as can be proven by the printed production numbers. The conspicuous yellow-brown maps with the drawn clouds (approx. 1915 to 1925), for which Guggenheim probably had the exclusive distribution for Switzerland, also came from Röder.
The Swiss National Library houses a collection of glass negatives from the Guggenheim publishing house.
literature
- Ruth Freiburghaus: Hermann Guggenheim (1864-1912) and his «Artistic Atelier» . In: Collector's Display. April 2012, p. 6, ISSN 1422-9358 .
- Ruth Freiburghaus: The Zurich publishing house Guggenheim: 50 years of postcard history . In: Collector's Display. May 2012, p. 6, ISSN 1422-9358 .
- Ruth Freiburghaus: The Guggenheim publishing house and the "Heliodore" cards from the Röder company, Leipzig . In: Collector's Display. March 2013, p. 6, ISSN 1422-9358 .
- Ruth Freiburghaus: Guggenheim & Co. - 50 years of Swiss Postcard History . In: The Postcard Album No. 27, 2013, pp. 17-20, private print.
- Otto Wicki: history of postcards and picture postcards . Verlag Zumstein & Cie., Bern 1996, ISBN 3-909278-13-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Ruth Freiburghaus: Hermann Guggenheim (1864-1912) and his "Artistic Atelier" . In: Collector's Display. April 2012, p. 6
- ^ Obituary in the Israelitisches Wochenblatt, Feb. 9, 1912
- ^ Zurich City Archives, Population Register
- ^ A b c Ruth Freiburghaus: Guggenheim & Co. - 50 years of Swiss Postcard History . In: The Postcard Album No. 27, 2013, pp. 17-20
- ^ A b c Ruth Freiburghaus: The Zurich publishing house Guggenheim: 50 years of history of the picture postcard . In: Collector's Display. May 2012, p. 6
- ^ Ruth Freiburghaus: The Guggenheim publishing house and the "Heliodore" cards from the Röder company, Leipzig . In: Collector's Display. March 2013, p. 6
- ↑ Guggenheim Collection in the Swiss National Library.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Guggenheim, Hermann |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Swiss lithographer and founder of a postcard publisher. |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 20, 1864 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Zurich |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 2, 1912 |
| Place of death | Zurich |