Josef Hafner (lithographer)

Josef Hafner (born May 22, 1799 in Enns , † April 10, 1891 in Linz ) was an Austrian color lithographer .

Origin and education

His father was the administrator of the prison in Baumgartenberg , where Josef Hafner attended elementary school. After the prison had moved to the Linz Castle, the boy came to Linz with his parents, where he attended the lower secondary school and at the same time received private drawing lessons. His father let him attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna . Here he received imperial recognition and the Heinrich Füger Prize for his successful work .

Professional background

Returning to Linz, he set up the first lithographic institute in Linz in 1827, which he managed successfully for 36 years. At the beginning, however, he had to struggle with existential difficulties and felt compelled to give private drawing lessons in order to be able to keep the company going and secure his livelihood.

His lithographs were very much valued and sought-after, and since photography was not yet developed at the time, it was of course all the more important. Josef Hafner created around 180 local views from Upper Austria , Salzburg and Styria as well as 200 pictures from Linz, a panorama of Linz, maps, dedication sheets and portraits. In 1841 he received a medal for a lithographic map of the Linz diocese in color print, which was regarded as the most successful work that had been created in Austria up to that point.

He opened a shop on Linz's main square to sell his works as well as another on Minoritenplatzl in Linz's Klosterstrasse, which existed there until 1863. Later he bought a house on Landstrasse, where he also ran an artificial stone mason.

For twelve years he was a member of the Linz municipal council, and for a long time he was a committee member of the Allgemeine Sparkasse in Linz and the art and trade association. He showed great interest in the Upper Austrian Provincial Museum , founded in 1839 , in which he headed the department for the art and cultural history department on the administrative board. He was made an honorary member by the management of the State Museum.

Josef Hafner was, like his son Karl later, a passionate collector of watches. In 1905 the Upper Austrian State Museum managed to buy up this collection.

Awards

• Heinrich Füger Prize
• 1841 Prize medal for a lithographic map of the Linz diocese

literature

• Hafner Josef. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 2, Publishing House of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1959, p. 141 f. (Direct links on p. 141 , p. 142 ).
• Eduard Straßmayr : Josef Hafner (Life Pictures from Upper Austria), 1959, In: Heimatland. Word and picture from Upper Austria
• Giordani Else, Die Linzer Hafner-Offizin, Linz 1962

Web links

• Entry on Josef Hafner (lithographer) in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
• Website Linz views
• Castle Museum website (PDF file; 123 kB)