Wilhelm Bahr (photographer)

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Carl Wilhelm Theodor Bahr (born May 3, 1821 in Stargard ; † October 13, 1876 in Hamburg ) was a German painter and photographer in Neubrandenburg and Hamburg. He belonged to the Neubrandenburg Circle of Friends of the Low German writer Fritz Reuter and received the nickname Malabar (= painter Bahr) from him.

Life

Wilhelm Bahr was born as the younger (youngest?) Son of the mayor and magistrate Gottfried Bahr (1787–1855) and his wife Ida, nee. Flotow , a teacher's daughter from Neustrelitz . Two older brothers are known: the lawyer Hermann Bahr (1816–1890), most recently mayor and city judge of Fürstenberg / Havel, and the theologian Ernst Bahr (1817–1886), initially a teacher at the daughter's school in Neubrandenburg, later a pastor in Woldegk .

Bahr, who was apparently well equipped financially and not dependent on gainful employment to earn a living, settled in Neubrandenburg around 1850 as a portrait and landscape painter. In addition, he turned to the newly emerging medium of photography at an early age . Between 1851 and 1856 he went on lecture tours with fog pictures . In 1857 he was the first local photographer to set up a photo studio in Neubrandenburg, but continued to organize cinematographic screenings in smaller Mecklenburg towns. In 1862 he bought the Hohenmin estate north of Neubrandenburg (now part of Neddemin ) from the estate of Georg Barnewitz , which he sold again the following year.

In 1872 Bahr moved to Hamburg, handing over his entire negative archive to a photographer from Neubrandenburg. Most recently, Bahr can be identified as a portrait painter and reindeer in Hamburg-Eilbek [Ottostraße 38]. He died at the age of 55.

Wilhelm Bahr had been with the landlord's daughter Hermine, born on December 30, 1846 . Koch (1822–1901) married. Three children are known from this marriage, of whom Antonie Bahr (* 1856) later made a name for herself as a concert pianist in Hamburg.

Works

In addition to individual portraits of contemporaries in pastel or chalk, which have become known so far, Bahr is gaining in importance in the context of Fritz Reuter through photographs of numerous well-known personalities from Neubrandenburg and the surrounding area, many of whom belonged to Reuter's circle of friends and acquaintances are passed down to us in portraits. His studio shots are comparatively easy to identify through room elements and accessories. Individual open-air photos, such as a troop parade on the Neubrandenburg market, also became known.

Fonts

  • The fog picture device, its handling and the production of transparent glass pictures. Koch, Leipzig 1875. [2nd, very enlarged edition. Hentze, Hamburg 1878]

swell

  • Hans Heinrich Leopoldi [arr.]: Fritz Reuter. Collected works and letters. Vol. VIII: Letters . Rostock, 1990 [reprint. d. Edition 1966/67]. Pp. 472, 481.
  • Gabriele Hahn: The first photo studio in Neubrandenburg. Wilhelm Bahr - painter and photographer. In: Neubrandenburger Mosaik, Vol. 23 (1999), pp. 33-47.
  • Thoralf Weiß: Photographs by Wilhelm Bahr (1821–1876). In: Neubrandenburger Mosaik, Vol. 39 (2015), pp. 18–31.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bahr's negative archive has been lost, other parts of the estate have not (so far) been known. The regional museum in Neubrandenburg has the largest collection of Bahr photographs .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bahr, Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bahr, Carl Wilhelm Theodor (full name); Malabar (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and photographer in Neubrandenburg and Hamburg
DATE OF BIRTH May 3, 1821
PLACE OF BIRTH Stargard
DATE OF DEATH October 13, 1876
Place of death Hamburg