1906 – A cabinet photo shows the three kids of Julius Nikolaus Heuer and Franziska Dorothea Konermann, in Kiel, Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Anton Busch
The story behind the image
I recently acquired this cabinet photo showing a portrait of three kids. The image was shot by Anton Busch, a photographer who ran his studio in Holtenauer Straße 111a in Kiel.
Unlike so many other photos of the period, the back carries valuable notes on the persons shown. It says (in German):
- Mrs. Dr. Hildegard Traeger, born Heuer
- Mrs. Franziska Rankleben, born Heuer
- Harald Heuer
- Christmas 1906
This is much more than one could expect.
The boy, Harald, is easily spotted on the image, and I estimated him to be between 8 and 10 years old at the time of the shooting. His sister on the left looks much younger than him, maybe 5 to 7 years, and his other sister might be slightly older than him, possibly 9 to 11.
But Harald was a good starting point. Ancestry provided a death record for Dr. jur. Harald Julius Nikolaus Heuer who died on 9th July 1971 in Berlin. He was born on the 27th August 1897 – in Kiel! Hoorah! While this was a hot trace, without finding his sisters it could be just another Harald Heuer.
So I searched further and found:
- His father, Julius Nikolaus Heuer, a teacher in Kiel (1866-1947)
- His mother, Franziska Dorothea, born Konermann (1872-1958)
- His older sister, Franziska Anna Heuer (1894-?)
- His younger sister, Hildegard Heuer (1900-?)
- His wife, Anni Ida Kathrin, born Geerk (1900-1977)
Now I knew that the three kids on the photo were, from left to right, Hildegard (6), Harald (9), and Franziska (12).
What’s more, I also realized that my original estimates were fairly accurate. Go figure.
Further work needs to be done on finding out more about Franziska and Hildegard.
But for researchers in the Heuer family tree, this may be a useful information.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 1906 |
| Photographer | Anton Busch |
| Location | Kiel, Germany |
| Image Source | Albumen print from a glass negative, mounted, cabinet format (c. 10.4 x 14.8 cm), photographer stamp on the front |
| 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 | 14029 x 9744 Pixels |
| Copyright | Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Anton Busch |
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