1892 – A cabinet photo shows Gustav Heinrich Albin Schütze, at the age of about 55 years in a photo studio in Weimar, Germany. Photo: Louis Held, Weimar
The story behind the image
The other day I shared a porait of Hedwig Oßwald (1870-1947), photographed by Louis Held in Weimar, Germany.
As some of the photos of that lot were well captioned – probably by a child of Hedwig – here is another beautiful portrait – her father!
The handwritten note on the back says: “[6] Grandfather Albinus Schütze” and more information that I could confirm and enrich through Ancestry and other services:
| First name | Gustav Heinrich Albin |
| Last name | Schütze |
| Date and place of birth | 30th December 1836 in Waldeck near Bürgel (Thuringia), Germany |
| Father | Johann Karl Friedrich Schütze |
| Mother | Hanna Justine Schütze, born Dimler |
| Wife | Juliane Elisabeth Johanna Schütze, born Oehlwein |
| Occupation | Carpenter (Master) |
| Date and place of death | 21st February 1909, Weimar, Germany |
| Children | Hugo Max Arno Schütze (1868-1953) Emilie Therese Hedwig Schütze (1870-1947) |
This large cabinet photo – an albumin print mounted on solid cardboard – is in a good condition, especially considering its age, but it shows some spots and minor damages here and there. It shows a light yellow/brown tint, and I think it’s a sign of age but it could well be that this was close to the original look when developed in the studio. The notes say that the image was taken “approximately 1892”, and I think this is a realistic estimate.
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The photographer
Louis Held (1851-1927) was a photo pioneer of his time. On April 1, 1882, he opened his photo studio in Weimar, always trying to expand his artwork into new areas that went beyond traditional portrait photography. For example, he photographed people and artists outside the studio in their surroundings, in their living and working environment. He also documented daily life in Weimar as one of the first press photographers in Germany. From 1910 he also explored the moving images and created several documentaries and news clips. In 1912, he founded a cinema in Weimar.
At the time of writing, the photo studio still exists at Marienstraße 1 in Weimar, owned and operated by photographer Stefan Renno who uses modern photo technology and maintains the extensive archive.
Read more about Louis Held at Wikipedia (in German.)
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | about 1892 |
| Photographer | Louis Held, Weimar |
| Location | Weimar, Germany |
| Image Source | Albumen print from a glass negative, mounted to cardboard, cabinet format (c. 10 x 14 cm) |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 9446 x 13479 Pixels |
| Copyright | Photo © Louis Held Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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