Wilhelm Paret

Wilhelm Paret (* 1864 in Möckmühl ; † 1938 in Derendingen (a district of Tübingen since 1934 )) was a Protestant pastor in the Black Forest and a hobby photographer who became known for his historically valuable photographic work.

As the son of a pastor, Wilhelm Paret, like his two older brothers, chose his father's profession, although his interest was more in science and technology. In addition to his theological training in the Evangelical Monastery of Tübingen from 1884 onwards, he has devoted himself to photography since his youth. Many of his photographs of Tübingen and the surrounding area have been preserved from this time .

After completing his studies, he did his legal clerkship in Vaihingen an der Enz and the vicariate in Gnadental near Schwäbisch Hall . In 1889 Paret married Maria Müller, a watchmaker's daughter from Tübingen, with whom he had five children, including his son Rudi , who became known as an Islamic scholar and Koran translator . In 1894 he received his first pastor's post in Wittendorf in the Freudenstadt district , where he documented the everyday life of the residents in great detail. All visits were also documented photographically in his guest book, which he had kept since 1889.

In 1924 there were difficulties in his community. The residents met him with increasing distrust, because his special interest was no longer primarily in them and their lives, but more and more in the gypsies , who often passed through at the time , with whom he sought contact and whom he photographed extensively. When the community accused him of neglecting his work because of his hobby, he anticipated an application for his dismissal due to the voluntary job, had himself taken into early retirement and immediately moved to Derendingen.

He continued his photographic work in Derendingen until his death in 1938 and left behind many thousands of photos. It initially stayed with the two daughters in Windfeldstrasse , but has since been largely forgotten. Presumably around 1960, the photographs were checked for Tubingensien by employees of the municipal collections, since at that time only such photos were considered worthy of preservation. Around 180 glass plates and a number of prints came into the possession of the city of Tübingen, which are now in the photo collection of the city archive. A further 1,500 photos could be brought together in a private collection.

Web links

Commons : Wilhelm Paret - Collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Paret, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German pastor and photographer
DATE OF BIRTH	1864
PLACE OF BIRTH	Möckmühl
DATE OF DEATH	1938
Place of death	Their endings