Theodor Hilsdorf
Theodor Hilsdorf (born June 18, 1868 in Bingen ; † 1944 ) was a German photographer . In 1905 he was awarded the title of “ Royal Bavarian Court Photographer ” by the Bavarian Prince Regent Luitpold .
biography
Theodor Hilsdorf was born as the son of the photographer Johann Baptist Hilsdorf in Bingen am Rhein. Like his brother Jacob, he was trained as a photographer by his father and received drawing lessons from the Mainz artist Schmittmer. After completing his training, Theodor Hilsdorf met the photographer Friedrich Müller . In 1891 he entered his studio on Amalienstraße in Munich and two years later he became engaged to Müller's daughter Emilie, whom he married in 1894 after spending a year in the USA . They had several children, including Johanna Hilsdorf (1900–1997) and Carola Hilsdorf (1903–1983) who worked for the Deutsche Werkstätten . He became Friedrich Müller's business partner and specialized in large-format sepia portraits, with which he was also represented at international exhibitions.
After the death of his father-in-law in 1903, Theodor Hilsdorf took over his studio in Munich, which existed under the name Friedrich Müller-Hilsdorf until his death in 1944. In 1905 he was appointed Royal Bavarian Court Photographer by Prince Regent Luitpold. At the end of the war in 1945, the studios were destroyed and most of the photographer's 100,000 negatives destroyed. Today, in addition to developed photographs, fewer than 2000 photo plates by Theodor Hilsdorf have survived, which are in the possession of the photo library of the Munich City Museum .
Like his father and brother Jacob, Theodor Hilsdorf belonged to the Bingen Freemason Lodge at the Temple of Friendship .
plant
Theodor Hilsdorf mainly created portraits . In addition to artists from the Munich Academy and the Conservatory, there are also portraits of the royal family, theater actors and opera singers. Theodor Hilsdorf's portraits of members of the George Circle, Richard Strauss and Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin were part of the standard repertoire of publishers until the 1930s, so that in many cases not even the photographer's name had to be printed. Like his brother Jacob Hilsdorf, Theodor Hilsdorf was forgotten. In 1978 the brother Jacob Hilsdorf was rediscovered as a photographer with an exhibition by the Bingen art group in the Bingen cultural center, followed in 1983 by the first exhibition on Theodor Hilsdorf.
literature
- Berthold Roland (Ed.): Theodor Hilsdorf 1868–1944. Royal Bavarian court photographer . Landesmuseum Mainz, Mainz 1987.
- Berthold Roland (Ed.): Nicola Perscheid, Theodor and Jacob Hilsdorf, August Sander. The Rhineland-Palatinate contribution to the history of photography . Catalog Landesmuseum Mainz, Mainz 1989.
- Hans-Michael Koetzle, Ulrich Pohlmann (Hrsg.): Munich circles: The photographer Theodor Hilsdorf (1868-1944) . Kerber, Bielefeld 2007, ISBN 3866780516 .
- Philipp Freytag: Hilsdorf, Theodor . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 73, de Gruyter, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-023178-6 , p. 249.
Individual evidence
- ↑ About our lodge. Masonic Lodge at the Temple of Friendship, accessed on May 17, 2019.
Web links
- Literature by and about Theodor Hilsdorf in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hilsdorf, Theodor |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German photographer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1868 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bingen |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1944 |