Jürgen Friedrich Mahrt

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Jürgen Friedrich Mahrt (born May 8, 1882 in Elsdorf ; † September 28, 1940 in Rendsburg ) was a German farmer , naturalist and photographer .

Life

Jürgen F. Mahrt in Elsdorf

Jürgen Mahrt grew up in his birthplace as the son of the farmer Hinrich Mahrt and Anna Elsabe nee. Jewe on. Even as a child he was intensively involved with plants and animals, early sketches from his coloring books show “artistic talent and a close look at nature.” For him, childhood and youth on the farm were both positive and stressful: on the one hand, he learned nature in turns Knowing the seasons and the variety of agricultural work, "on the other hand, he soon became aware of the contradictions between the duties on a traditional family business and his scientific inclinations." Around 1900 he began to build up a natural history collection, collecting bugs, beetles, caterpillars, butterflies. He trained as a taxidermist and prepared native breeding and migratory birds. In 1903 he married Margarete Karstens. The marriage had three children. Mahrt took over the farm from his father in 1912.

During the First World War , Mahrt served as a soldier in the 187th Infantry Division and in aerial reconnaissance over the Western Front . There he learned the photographic trade. After returning from the war in 1919, he bought a glass plate camera and began to create photographic collections of mushrooms, insects, butterflies, plants and birds. He colored the black and white photos with egg white glazes.

He was a member of the German Ornithological Society and the Natural Science Association for Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Lübeck . From 1919 to 1931 he kept a natural history diary, in which he recorded observations of the animal and plant world, against the background of the increasing human intervention in nature. Mahrt did not publish himself scientifically, but made a name for himself through his collections, which were described by experts. He was known in specialist circles far beyond the country. In the 1920s he opened a natural history museum in Elsdorf, in which he exhibited dozens of smaller dioramas with his preparations for birds, and set up large dioramas on the subjects of "sea and coast", "moor and heath", winter and "river and swamp" exhibited his extensive collections and nature photographs. In 1927 he handed over the farm to his son and from then on devoted himself entirely to his interests.

He expanded his search for motifs to include people and their realities of life in the post-war period - photographed the workers of rural life, everyday life and after-work hours of this time, the hard life of the moor and cottage dwellers, house shapes, landscape shapes. He was the protagonist of the emerging amateur photography movement and initially oriented himself on the pictures of Theodor Möller , but increasingly adapted his own observational- documentary style, often taking photos in series . He was one of the first in Schleswig-Holstein to record simple everyday scenes from field work or market events in the city. He photographed a. a. with a 6 × 6 Rolleiflex , from the mid-1930s also in color with a roll film camera from Leica . In the 1920s and 1930s, Mahrt rode his bicycle through large areas of the German Empire as far as Switzerland . On these trips he devoted himself in particular to urban architecture and landscape photography . He could no longer publish the photos. In 1940 Mahrt died as a result of a biliary operation. His museum existed in Elsdorf until 1966, then it moved to Büsum , where it was accessible until 1990.

Estate and rediscovery

In the mid-1980s, Mahrt's grandson, Hans-Hermann Storm , discovered the forgotten photo estate in the attic of the former museum building and began to publish the photos in several folkloric illustrated books on rural life in the early 20th century. Mahrt's photos first became known to a wider public through his books.

Publications

  • Hans-Hermann Storm: Back then in the country - memories in words and pictures. [All Pictures were taken by Jürgen Friedrich Mahrt]. Volume 1. Rendsburg 1985.
  • Hans-Hermann Storm: Life in the Country. It was like that back then. Memories in words and pictures. Volumes 2-6. Hamburg 1986–1995.
  • Hans-Hermann Storm: Vör de Klöndör. / With pictures by Jürgen F. Mahrt. Hamburg 1997.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Heinrich Mehl: Folklorist with the camera (II): Jürgen Friedrich Mahrt. In: Schleswig-Holstein 5/2001, p. 1.
  2. ^ Hans Heinrich Weber: Rare bugs and beetles in the Jürgen Mahrt collection in Elsdorf (Rendsburg district). In: Communications of the Faunistic Working Group for Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Lübeck. New episode - No. 10 and October 11 / November 1948 (1949). New series II, No. 1/2 Jan. – Feb. 49.
  3. ↑ (unknown). We still have white ravens! A farmer collected animals from his homeland and created a museum. In: Hamburger Freie Presse v. June 29, 1951, p. 3
  4. ^ A b Annemarie Schmidt: The Elsdorfer Vogelmuseum. In: The home . Monthly publication of the association for the care of natural and regional studies in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. 74th year, 1967 (Kiel), pages 242–243.
  5. ^ E. Wagner and Hans Heinrich Weber. The heteropteran fauna of northwest Germany. Where are larger home collections located? In: Writings of the Natural Science Association for Schleswig-Holstein 1967, Volume 37, p. 30
  6. ↑ Peter Gloe: Ornithological diary - Jürg. Fried. Mahrt - 1919 - 1931 - and his natural history collection. In: CORAX 1990 (Journal of the Ornithological Working Group Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg), Volume 14, Pages 3-67.
  7. ^ Georg Warnecke: Rare butterflies from Elsdorf (Rendsburg district) in the Jürgen Mahrt collection in Elsdorf. In: Communications of the faunistic working group Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lübeck, NF 2 (1): 9-11, Hamburg 1949 (24 species).
  8. ^ A b Heinrich Mehl: Folklorist with the camera (II): Jürgen Friedrich Mahrt. In: Schleswig-Holstein 5/2001, p. 4
  9. ^ Rolf K. Berndt: Mahrt, Jürgen Friedrich (1882-1940) . In: History of field ornithology in Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg. Kiel 2015, p. 329.
  10. ↑ The Mahrt'sche collection in Elsdorf. In: The district of Rendsburg. Ed. I. A. District Committee. Art Print and Publishing Office Kiel 1931, pp. 31–33.
  11. ↑ Wolf-Hinrich Groeneveld: So weer dat earlier. In: Photo Antiquaria. Edited by Club Daguerre. Association for the care of the historical aspects of photography. No. 118, 3/2014, pp. 10-17.
personal data
SURNAME Mahrt, Jürgen Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mahrt, Jürgen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Photographer and naturalist
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Elsdorf
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 1940
Place of death Rendsburg