An undated cabinet photo shows Philipp Lichtenberger (front row, 2nd from left) and his family in a photo studio in Idar-Oberstein, Germany. Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
Every now and then I get shivers when I receive an antique photo that is deeply related to our family tree and my work uncovering its past.
I got this photo from a relative who said she’d have lots of old photos. I asked her to send the ones that she believes to be most useful for our archive. And then she sent 43 photos, all of them fascinating and highly relevant, and some of them even of high quality. Apparently, she had taken the images from albums where they were fastened with (modern) double sided stickers. She put the stack of photos into an envelope and sent it by mail. Sadly, she did not realize that some of the old images would stick together during the transport. Oh my! I carefully separated the images and repaired the few remaining damages digitally.
Anyway, this is the largest image from the lot, about 23 x 15 cm. It has significantly aged since it was taken, and its digital restoration has taken quite a while, but the result is impressive. Now the image is a joy to look at (again) and good to inform generations to come. I scanned the photo at 2400 dpi which after cropping turned into almost 300 megapixels. As cool as it sounds, this size is not supported by the degree of details contained in the image. But I had to return the originals and did not want to lose any of the available details.
We know for sure that the photo shows Petra’s great-great-grandfather, Philipp Lichtenberger and his family. He sits in the front row between two (unknown) ladies. Her great-grandfather, Hermann Lichtenberger, is the one standing right behind him. The family lived in Idar-Oberstein, and most of the sons became goldsmiths like Philipp.
Sadly, the photographer did not leave a stamp, or it has been chopped away to make the photo fit in an album or frame. I guess that the Lichtenbergers would strictly support local businesses, so it seems likely that the photographer was Alexander Schmidt who operated a studio in ‘Oberstein-Idar’ around that time.
It is difficult to estimate when this image was shot. But the style provides some hints:
- Men’s fashion: The men are wearing dark suits with vests and stiff collars, many with mustaches, some with ties or bow ties. This fashion was typical of the late 1890s to early 1910s.
- Women’s fashion: The women are wearing high-necked blouses with puffed sleeves and long skirts. The blouses have lace or ruffles, which was very fashionable around 1900–1910.
- Hairstyles: Updo hairstyles for the women, neatly combed hair with a center parting for the men are also typical of the period around 1900.
A more detailed analysis helps narrowing down the year of origin more precisely.
- Photographic style: The group portrait in a studio with a painted background and formal pose suggests a professional studio photograph from the time before World War I.
- Image format and size: The original photo size of 23 x 15 cm is a fairly typical format for studio prints mounted on cardboard (e.g., cabinet cards or larger variations thereof) from the late Imperial era. After 1900, these formats were often slightly larger and produced without the stiff cardboard border that was previously common. This also fits the period around 1900–1910.
- Studio Style and Composition: The group arrangement (seated in front, standing in the back) against a painted backdrop is classic for studio photography at the turn of the century. The backdrop looks like a “foggy landscape with a curtain” which is typical of the period around 1895–1910.
- Lighting: It is soft and coming from the upper left, presumably daylight from a glass-roofed studio – the lighting technique commonly used at the time.
So, all-in-all, I think the image was shot between 1900 and 1905.
It’s a real gem from the archive.
Disclaimer: ChatGPT has contributed to this article.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1900 |
| Photographer | unknown |
| Location | Idar-Oberstein, Germany |
| Image Source | c. 23.4 x 15.4 cm photo mounted to solid cardboard |
| 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 | 21650 x 13523 Pixels |
| Copyright | © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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