Leo Fritz Gruber

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Leo Fritz Gruber (with dark glasses) with the photographers Man Ray , Ugo Mulas and Paolo Monti

Leo Fritz Gruber (born June 7, 1908 in Cologne ; † March 30, 2005 in Cologne ) was a German advertising specialist, publicist , collector and curator . Together with Bruno Uhl he founded Photokina .

Life

From 1926 Gruber studied philosophy, German, art history, theater studies, newspaper studies, ethnology and languages, first at the Cologne Werkschulen with Johan Thorn Prikker , then at the University of Cologne , where he studied ethnology with Julius Lips . Towards the end of his studies, in 1930, he became a co-founder and co-publisher of the weekly newspapers Kölner Kurier and Westdeutscher Kurier , two anti-Nazi newspapers. When the newspapers were banned in 1933, partly because of one of his articles, Gruber had to emigrate to London and could not finish his doctorate. Since he had developed an interest in photography since his school days and collected photos of the 20th century, he became an employee of the Modern Photography yearbooks in England and worked for the magazine commercial graphics . After visiting his parents shortly before the start of the war, he was unable to return to England. Because of a polio illness he was not called up for military service. In 1942/43 he moved to his parents in Bad Oeynhausen and Minden . From 1945 he worked there as a photographer for the British Army of the Rhine . In 1949 he moved back to Cologne.

Grave in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne

Among other things, Gruber was professionally and on friendly terms with Man Ray , whom he met in Paris in 1956 , for two decades . Gruber dedicated the solo exhibition to Man Ray as part of the "photokina" picture show in Cologne in 1960. In 1963 his publication Man Ray Portraits appeared . Together with his wife Renate , an extensive collection of originals and documentary material on the life and work of Man Ray was created.

Grave, detail

From 1950 to 1980 Gruber organized the Photokina picture shows, where he exhibited August Sander in 1951 and Erich Salomon in 1956 . In 1951 he became the "specialist representative of the German photo industry for the Cologne Photo and Cinema Fair 1951" and initiated the establishment of the German Society for Photography .

Gruber married Renate, nee Busch, on June 5, 1959. He had a daughter from his first marriage (with Ilka Maria, née Roggendorf), Alice Bettina Constanze (* 1947).

His grave is in the Melaten cemetery in Cologne (hall 61).

Awards

  • 1968: David Octavius ​​Hill Medal from the Society of German Photographers
  • Decoration of honor of the German Red Cross
  • Gruber was appointed professor in 1974 by NRW Prime Minister Rau, in 1983 he received the Great Federal Cross of Merit , 1985 the Jabach Medal of the City of Cologne, 1995 the Order of Merit of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia , in 1997 the Great Federal Cross of Merit with Star and in 2005 he was appointed Dr. . phil. hc from the University of Cologne.
  • Since the 2nd photo competition of the University of Cologne, which was announced on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the guest auditor and senior citizen studies, Gruber took over the honorary chairmanship of the jury. Since his death, his wife Renate Gruber has continued the honorary patronage on the jury. Today the competition bears his name L. Fritz Gruber Prize .
  • The L.-Fritz-Gruber-Platz (corner of Herzogstraße / Brückenstraße) in downtown Cologne was named after him, the interior of which is a photograph that is constantly changing due to changing daylight and moving shadows. In 2014 the square design by the architecture firm Scape , Düsseldorf, and the lighting designer Burkhard Wand, City of Cologne, received one of five awards from the Cologne Architecture Prize .

literature

  • Man Ray - L. Fritz Gruber. Years of friendship 1956–1976. Years of Friendship , exhibition catalog 2008, Die Photographische Sammlung / SK Stiftung Kultur Köln
  • Highlights and shadows. Photographic memories , exhibition catalog 1988, Museum Ludwig Cologne

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ German Society for Photography eV dossier L. Fritz Gruber
  2. ↑ according to the short vita in Erlebte Geschichte
personal data
SURNAME Gruber, Leo Fritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gruber, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German photographer, Photokina co-founder and photo collector
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH March 30, 2005
Place of death Cologne