1895 – A historic photo shows the ferry across the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (Kiel Canal) in Sehestedt, Germany. Photo © Waldemar Renard, Kiel
The story behind the image
The other day I purchased a stunning historic photo. It shows the ferry across the Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (today simply called Kiel Canal) at Sehestedt. The photo is pretty cool, because it is really large – about 21.1 x 14.5 cm – and almost in mint quality. It’s been mounted to hard cardboard and is dated 1895.
The canal has been officially inaugurated by Kaiser Wilhelm II on June 20, 1895, after eight years of construction. Initially it was called the Nord-Ostsee-Canal, as it connected the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Soon after its launch, it was renamed to Kaiser Wilhelm Canal.
I like the way the men have lined up, pridely posing for the photographer. The horse-drawn carriage on the ferry is nice, too, giving an insight of the default means of transportation in 1895. Everything looks rather fresh and new, suggesting that this photo could have been taken on the day of the opening. But I doubt it as the photographer, Waldemar Renard, was probably busy in Kiel capturing the festivities with the celebrities.
The ferry still exists today, but of course, it has been replaced with larger ferry.
The enormous size of the print enabled me to create a super large scan of 19971 x 13638 pixels, i.e. about 272 megapixels.
The photographer
The photographer, Waldemar Renard, was the son of Gregorius Renard (1814-1885), a genuine photo pioneer. Apparently, as early as 1843, Gregorius had opened one of the first photo studios in the world – in Kiel! In fact, the studio claims to be the oldest photo studio that is still in business today (worldwide.) Read all about them here (in German.)
Anyway, Friedrich Waldemar Renard was born on 19th August 1850 in Kiel, where he also met and married his wife, Sophie Esrom in 1877. The same year he opened a studio at the Sopienblatt 18 in Kiel which he operated as a single owner until 1898. In 1899, he added his son-in-law and called the business Waldemar Renard & Voss.
According to Kiel Wiki, Renard was busy taking photographs, and as an artist, he did not look too closely after the financial side of the business. So he did not notice that an accountant had actually ruined him. When the news broke he had a fierce debate with the employees and fired them all.
Three days later, on January 9th, 1904, he died from alcohol poisoning.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 1895 |
| Photographer | Waldemar Renard, Kiel |
| Location | Sehestedt, Germany |
| Image Source | 21.1 x 14.5 cm print |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 19971 x 13638 Pixels |
| Copyright | Photo © by Waldemar Renard, Scan by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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