Bertel Christian Budtz Müller (26 December 1837 – 30 December 1884) was a pioneering
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
photographer. He operated the photographic studio Budtz Müller & Co. at
Bredgade
Bredgade ( lit. "Broad Street") is one of the most prominent streets in Copenhagen, Denmark. Running in a straight line from Kongens Nytorv for just under one kilometre to the intersection of Esplanaden and Grønningen, it is one of the major stre ...
21 in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and was appointed as court photographer in Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Aalborg
Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...
and then moved to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
Randers
Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 62,802 (as of 1 January 2022).Alfred Benzon, founder of
Alfred Benzon A/S
Alfred Benzon A/S was a wholesaler of chemicals based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Its former headquarters at Halmtorvet 29 in Vesterbro was converted into apartments in 2008.
History
The company was founded by Alfred Benzon (1823–1884) on 1 Janu ...
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
in 1859.
Career
Müller and Benzon opened a shop with photography equipment at
Bredgade
Bredgade ( lit. "Broad Street") is one of the most prominent streets in Copenhagen, Denmark. Running in a straight line from Kongens Nytorv for just under one kilometre to the intersection of Esplanaden and Grønningen, it is one of the major stre ...
21 in 1862. It was converted into a photographic institute with student programmes in 1863. Benzon left the company in 1866. Müller was instead joined by the art historian
Philip Weilbach
Philip Weilbach (5 August 1834, Usserød – 22 November 1900, Copenhagen) was a Danish art historian and encyclopedist. He is remembered above all for his pioneering work on the early editions of the biographical dictionary, ''Weilbachs Kunstne ...
until 1871, and from then on owned Budtz Müller & Co. alone.
The firm offered a wide selection of high quality stereoscopies and photographs in large and small formats from Copenhagen. Other images were of prominent cultural figures such as
Grundtvig
Nikolaj Frederik Severin Grundtvig (; 8 September 1783 – 2 September 1872), most often referred to as N. F. S. Grundtvig, was a Danish pastor, author, poet, philosopher, historian, teacher and politician. He was one of the most influential peo ...
,
Hans Christian Andersen
Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales.
Andersen's fairy tales, consisti ...
, actors in costumes, works by
Bertel Thorvaldsen
Bertel Thorvaldsen (; 19 November 1770 – 24 March 1844) was a Danes, Danish and Icelanders, Icelandic Sculpture, sculptor medallist, medalist of international fame, who spent most of his life (1797–1838) in Italy. Thorvaldsen was born in ...
and 33 stereoscopies from
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
recorded in 1866. Other series included Danish monuments (1865-) with text by Weilbach,
Knippelsbro
Knippelsbro (English: Knippel Bridge) is a bascule bridge across the Inner Harbour of Copenhagen, Denmark, connecting Børsgade (English: Stock Exchange Street) on Zealand-side Slotsholmen to Torvegade (English: Market Street) on Christianshavn. ...
(1869), paintings in the Royal Danish Painting Collection at
Christiansborg Palace
Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...
(1869), drawings by Danish and foreign artists (1872), paintings by Danish, Norwegian and Swedish artists (1872), drawings and paintings by
Holger Roed
Holger Peter Roed (2 November 1846 – 20 February 1874), was a Danish painter, born in Copenhagen to painter Jørgen Roed and wife Emilie Mathilde. He had a promising artistic career ahead of him when he died at the age of 27.
He was one of two ...
Christiansborg Palace
Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...
(1884). A folder with 35 images by Haldor Topsøe from ''Fyllas expedition to Greenland was also published in 1877.
Budtz Müller collaborated with Jean Christian Ferslew in introducing
photolithography
In integrated circuit manufacturing, photolithography or optical lithography is a general term used for techniques that use light to produce minutely patterned thin films of suitable materials over a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, to protect ...
to the Danish market and created the first photolithographic maps for the Danish
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
, as well as a number of reproductions of manuscripts for the
Arnamagnæan Institute
The Arnamagnæan Institute ( da, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, formerly ''Det Arnamagnæanske Institut'') is a teaching and research institute established in 1956 to further the study of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, th ...
. Müller and Ferslew published print from 1495 of ' in 1873.
Budtz Müller was in 1869 appointed as Swedish and Norwegian court photographer and in 1870 also as Danish court photographer. He wrote a number of articles about the history of photography in ''Den fotografiske Forenings Tidende'' in 1865.
Müller's photographic studio in Bredgade was continued for a few years after his death by Ludvig Johan Offenberg (1863–1904) under the name Budtz Müller.
Personal life
Müller married Maren Christine Petersen (1840–1878), a foster daughter of dyer Hans Nikolaj Edinger Grundtvig (1807–1887) and Anna Marie Petersen (1804–1865), on 4 December 1863 in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen.