Walter Barbian

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Walter Barbian (born April 14, 1919 in Saarbrücken ; † December 13, 2005 in Saarbrücken) Saarland press photographer, member of the German Association of Journalists (DJV).

photographer

Even before the Second World War, in which he participated as an air force soldier, Barbian was interested in photography, which he learned as an autodidact. Soon after the end of the war, he began his 50-year career as a photojournalist for regional and national daily newspapers, as well as for magazines and television. Although he traveled the world extensively, his photographic field of activity was limited to the Saarland , of which he was the most important photo reporter, especially during the period of Saarland autonomy from 1945 to 1957. For several years his photographic life's work has been processed and made available in the "Saarlandarchiv Walter Barbian".

His son is the German cameraman Frank Barbian .

biography

Walter Barbian was born in Saarland, which is under the administration of the League of Nations, as the eldest of two sons of a merchant family. He became interested in photography at an early age and built his first pinhole camera from a box himself before he could afford a floor-mounted camera with a bellows extension. But first he wanted to become a pilot, a wish that the Labor Service should brusquely fulfill immediately after the Saarland was annexed to the Third Reich in 1935 and the outbreak of World War II.

When he returned to his destroyed homeland after the end of the war, he accompanied the now independent Saarland with his photo reports. The proximity to the first Saarland Prime Minister Johannes Hoffmann and his fundamental aversion to the propagandistic excesses of the "German home parties" made him vote for the Saar Statute in the referendum on October 23, 1955 .

Even after the Saarland was annexed to the Federal Republic, his pictures accompanied the Saarlanders every day, especially in the Saarbrücker Zeitung .

Walter Barbian died on December 13, 2005 in Saarbrücken.

Sports

From a sporting point of view, he was best known as the goalkeeper of the Saarland national handball team in the early 1950s. In numerous international matches across Europe, he defended the goal of the small country. During this time, however, he was also active in the athletics section of SV Saar 05 and represented several times in the best lists of the shot put, hurdle run and hammer throw.

literature

  • "Saarbuch 1955", Saarland Publishing House & Printing House, Saarbrücken
  • "Post-war years on the Saar", Doris Seck , book publisher Saarbrücker Zeitung, Saarbrücken 1982
  • "We were never right at home", Klaus-Michael Mallmann , Reinhard Klektiven (ed.), Dietz Nachf., Berlin / Bonn 1987
  • "Sportpolitik an der Saar 1945-1957", Wolfgang Harres, Saarbrücker Druckerei und Verlag, 1997
  • Paul Burgard (editor), Ludwig Linsmayer (editor): Pictures of the big city - Barbian exposed Saarbrücken , Verlag Landesarchiv Saarland, 2009. ISBN 978-3981167221

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.saarlandarchiv-walter-barbian.eu
personal data
SURNAME Barbian, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German press photographer
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Saarbrücken
DATE OF DEATH December 13, 2005
Place of death Saarbrücken