An undated cabinet photo shows a young woman in a photo studio in Weissenfels, Germany. Photo: Atelier F.W. Reichert
The story behind the image
I don’t know the young lady on this photo which belongs to a bigger lot of CdV photos I acquired a while ago. It was probably shot around 1905 at Atelier F. W. Reichert in Weissenfels, Germany. A handwritten note on the back says: “Daughter of uncle August Leue from Weissenfels”.
I’d estimate that the lady on the photo is about 17 years old, and we know that the image must have been shot in 1905 or 1906. That’s because during this period the photo studio was handed over from F. W. Reichert to Max Voigt who ran it for several years but used his just own name since around 1907. So, the lady must have been born ‘around 1888’ (calculated from shooting date 1905 minus 17 years).
Now, this could be a starting point for research. From research on previous images as well as the Rössler family tree, I think the entire photo lot belonged to Martha Minna Rößler (1892-1978) or had been annotated by her. In this context, “Uncle August Leue” can only be a brother of her mother, Marie Elisabeth Dorothea Minna Leue (1862-1924) who is the link towards the Leue family. An uncle from her father’s side would carry the name Rössler.
Now, I could find three siblings of Marie Elisabeth:
- Dorothea Friederike Leue (1866-?)
- Georg Friedrich Leue (1868-?)
- Friedrich August Leue (?-?)
So, the uncle could be Friedrich August Leue but his records are well hidden so I know very little about him. In any event, he did marry Leonore Luise Wilhelmine Schreiber, but I could not find the marriage record. The couple had at least two boys and one daughter:
- Anna Louise Wilhelmine Leue (1885-?)
- Otto Hermann Leue (1887-?)
- Anna Minna Marie (1890-?)
- August Georg Franz Leue (1896-1915)
Oh my. Now we have two ladies who appear to be a good match! However, in 1905, Anna Louise would have been about 20 years old, and Anna Minna 15. Looking at her portrait again, I think she’s more like 20 years old, so I believe that Anna Louise Wilhelmine (born on the 25th August 1885 in Genthin, Prussia) is indeed the one we are looking for. But as always, there is still a lot of uncertainty in this assumption. If you have different information, please feel free to reach out to me.
Anyway, I like the portrait and hope you do, too.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1905 |
| Photographer | Atelier F. W. Reichert, Inh. Max Voigt |
| Location | Weissenfels, Germany |
| Image Source | 4.5 x 10.2 cm photo mounted to solid cardboard |
| 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 | 4239 x 9673 Pixels |
| Copyright | © zanzig.com/Photo: Atelier F. W. Reichert |
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