Theodor Möller

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Theodor Möller (born March 6, 1873 in Rumohrholz ; † November 12, 1953 in Kiel ) was a German photographer , writer and local researcher . He is considered to be the most important photographer in Schleswig-Holstein.

Life

Theodor Möller was born in 1873 as a child of Christian Heinrich Möller and Anna Magdalena Möller, b. Born in Kiel. His parents originally came from the backguard and were farmers. He grew up in a rural area on her farm near Rumohr, which she acquired in 1860, and initially completed the lower elementary school teacher training as a preparer (two years preparatory institute in Kiel, then three years teaching seminar in Segeberg ). In Segeberg he got his first job at the boys' school in 1894. In 1896 he passed the second elementary school teacher examination. From 1897 he lived in Kiel and in 1898 married Frieda Michelsen, who came from Ahrensbök . At the turn of the century he discovered his passion for photography and gave many slide shows. He photographed people at work, landscapes and typical motifs throughout Schleswig-Holstein. From 1904 Möller looked after the newly established photo collection point in Kiel. In 1924 he was given leave of absence and from then on devoted himself entirely to photography and local research. His motifs were based heavily on landscape painting of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1912 his first book The Face of the Homeland was published , which was followed by other book projects ( Die Welt der Halligen , 1924, Der Kirchhof in Nebel auf Amrum and his old tombstones , 1928, North Schleswig. Landscape and cultural images , 1929, Gassen der Heimat , 1933, and finally Landscape and People , 1953). From the mid-1930s he switched more and more frequently from glass plate photography to the easier-to-use roll film photography. From 1930 to 1948 he was the first chairman of the Die Heimat association . In the Second World War (spring 1941) Möller's house in Kiel was destroyed. He was wounded in the attack and his wife suffered severe burns, which resulted in her death in 1946. At that time, the Möllers lived on the Kattenberg farm near Ahrensbök. Möller's picture collection remained intact in the air raid in 1941. Theodor Möller passed away voluntarily on November 10, 1953.

Möller was a member of the reform and homeland security movement , a folklore and cultural association that was critical of civilization and romanticized country life. She researched the nature and history of Schleswig-Holstein with a large number of laypeople. Accordingly, Möller mainly captured churches and pastorates, mansions, farmhouses and fishermen's cottages in his photos, as well as cultural landscapes and bathing life on the Baltic Sea beach. The information sheet on the exhibition of his work in the zeiTTor museum from September 11, 2015 to January 31, 2016 praised his photos as being of captivating quality, brilliant depth and overall high attractiveness, which, in addition to their documentary value, show Möller's artistic standards .

estate

In 1950 Möller donated his picture collection to the Schleswig-Holstein State Office for Monument Preservation. It comprised more than 6900 pictures and negatives (4615 glass plates in the format 9 × 12 cm and 1934 roll film recordings 4.4 × 6.0 cm) and is one of its most valuable picture collections. In September 2012, the Günter Fielmann Foundation donated 60 A3 prints from this collection to the Langes Tannen Museum in Uetersen, which Möller had taken in the Pinneberg district between 1906 and 1931.

Honors

In 1953 he was awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1955 a park dedicated to Theodor Möller was opened in Ahrensbök . A memorial stone was erected for him in the park.

In Kiel-Elmschenhagen there had been a primary and secondary school named after Theodor Möller since the 1950s, which became a community school in 2010.

On the occasion of his 140th birthday in April 2013, a memorial stone was erected in Rumohr to commemorate Theodor Möller.

Exhibitions

  • Theodor Möller 1873 - 1953 - Across Wagrien. Museum zeiTTor, Neustadt / Holstein, September 11, 2015 to January 31, 2016 (information flyer of the same name on the exhibition)
  • Theodor Möller (1873–1953) - Across fishing. Landscape Museum fishing / Unewatt, Unewatt, 8 May 2016 to 30 October 2016 (information flyer of the same name on the exhibition)
  • Theodor Möller 1873–1953 - Kiel in old photographs Stadtmuseum Warleberger Hof, Kiel, November 26, 2017 to April 8, 2018 (information flyer of the same name for the exhibition)

Publications

  • Cityscapes Schleswig-Holstein: Photographs 1900 - 1950 . With texts by Astrid Hansen and Heiko KL Schulze. State Office for Monument Preservation Schleswig-Holstein, Neumünster 2013, ISBN 978-3-529-02885-4 .
  • Across Schleswig-Holstein: Photographs 1900 - 1950 . With a text by Astrid Hansen ... Ed. By the State Office for Monument Preservation Schleswig-Holstein, Neumünster 2007, ISBN 978-3-529-02798-7 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Uetersener Nachrichten of September 29, 2012: Valuable donation - Langes Tannen Museum: 60 photographs received from Theodor Möller
  2. ^ Cityscapes Schleswig-Holstein: Photographs 1900 - 1950 . 1st edition Wachholtz, Neumünster 2013, ISBN 978-3-529-02885-4 , p. 8 ( dnb.de [accessed April 12, 2020]).
personal data
SURNAME Möller, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Schleswig-Holstein photographer, writer and local researcher
DATE OF BIRTH March 6, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Rumohrholz
DATE OF DEATH November 12, 1953
Place of death Kiel