UNDATED – A portrait of Auguste and Karl Hintz from Krempe in Germany. Photo: Ad. Martens, Itzehoe
The story behind the image
This historic image from the Rößler lot shows two kids. Most likely they are Auguste and Karl Hintz. The photo was captured by Ad. Martens in his studio in Itzehoe in Germany.
One of the previous owners of the photo wrote a note on the back:
Guschi and Karl Hinz – the kids of baker Hinz in Krempe
The use of Guschi indicates a close relationship with the family as it used to be a German nickname for Auguste. Someone else added a handwritten sticker:
Bakery Emil Hinz, Krempe
That’s not a lot of information, but at least it’s something to work with.
The photo format already gives a hint on its potential creation period. It is a tall portrait CdV which was en vogue between about 1905 and 1920. (I don’t know why the photographer left so much space at the top of the image, though. I left it intact to preserve the original aspect ratio.)
Next I estimated the age of the kids. I’d say they might have been 9 years (Guschi) and 7 years (Karl) old when the image was taken. So, I looked for birth records from Krempe for the period 1896 to 1913 hoping to find something. I began in 1904 which is in the middle of the period.
Bingo!
I found Auguste Meta Rebecca Hintz. She was born on the 12th July 1904 and got baptized on the 23rd August 1904 in Krempe. Her father was – ta-daa! – Emil Hermann Hintz, baker in Krempe. Auguste got confirmed on 14th March 1919 in Krempe. On the 4th August 1925 she married Johannes Heinrich Anton Franke (1895-1973). The legal wedding took place in Krempe, but the wedding in front of god was closed in the church of Herzhorn. She died on the 22nd June 1981 in Glückstadt. I guess the couple had kids but the records are still covered by data protection laws and just available to direct relatives.
For her brother Karl Hartwig Hermann Hintz I could also find a wealth of information. He was born just a year after Auguste, on the 10th October 1905 in Krempe where he got baptized on the 26th October 1905. He stayed for the rest of his life in the area. Here, he got confirmed (in 1921). Like his father, he became a master baker, probably operating the bakery until his death in 1961. In 1929, he married Henriette Emilie Witt (1906-1969), the daughter of a master baker, in Sommerland. He got buried on the 9th November 1961 in Krempe.
Voilá.
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The photographer
Little is known about photographerr Ad. Martens in Itzehoe. He ran his photo studio over a long period, probably from the early 1890s to the 1920s. The building where his studio resided in Mühlenstraße 5 still exists today and looks very much like in 1900.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1913 |
| Photographer | Ad. Martens, Itzehoe |
| Location | Itzehoe, Germany |
| Image Source | Albumen print, c. 5.9 x 10.6 cm, mounted, CdV format |
| 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 | 5451 x 10016 Pixels |
| Copyright | Photo © Ad. Martens, Itzehoe Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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