Erna Lendvai-Dircksen (born Erna Katherina Wilhelmine Dircksen, 31 May 1883 – 8 May 1962) was a German photographer known for a series of volumes of portraits of rural individuals from throughout Germany. During the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, she also photographed for
eugenicist
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
publications and was commissioned to document the new ''
Autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
'' and the workers constructing it.
Career
Born in Wetterburg, now part of
Bad Arolsen
Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, ''Bad'' being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and t ...
, Erna Dircksen studied painting at the
Kunsthochschule Kassel
Kunsthochschule Kassel (German; "Kassel College of Art") is a college of fine arts in Kassel, Germany. Founded in 1777, it is a semi-autonomous department of the University of Kassel .
Notable people
* Daniel Stieglitz
* Peter Angermann
* Si ...
from 1903 to 1905, and photography at the
Lette-Verein
Lette-Verein (Lette Association or Lette Society) is a German educational organization for applied arts. Founded in 1866 in Berlin, the idea of Dr. Wilhelm Adolf Lette, it was initially a technical school for girls. Its motto was "Dienen lerne be ...
from 1910 to 1911.
[Anne Maxwell, ''Picture Imperfect: Photography and Eugenics, 1870–1940'', Brighton, Sussex / Portland, Oregon: Sussex Academic Press, 2008, ]
p. 194
[Ute Eskildsen ''et al''., ed., ''Fotografieren hieß Teilnehmen: Fotografinnen der Weimarer Republik'', Catalogue of exhibitions at Museum Folkwang Essen, Fundació "La Caixa", Barcelona, Jewish Museum, New York, Düsseldorf: Richter, 1994, ]
n.p.
She may have opened a photographic studio in
Hellerau
Hellerau is a northern quarter ''(Stadtteil)'' in the city of Dresden, Germany, slightly south of Dresden Airport. It was the first garden city in Germany. The northern section of Hellerau absorbed the village of Klotzsche, where some 18th cent ...
, near
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
, in 1913. From 1916 to 1943, she had a portrait studio in Berlin. By 1918 she had a growing reputation, particularly for her
nude photography
Nude photography is the creation of any photograph which contains an image of a nude or semi-nude person, or an image suggestive of nudity. Nude photography is undertaken for a variety of purposes, including educational uses, commercial applic ...
, and was increasingly using a highly realistic style.
[ Already in 1911, she had become interested in portraying the country people of Germany, after accidentally photographing a blacksmith and a farmer while on holiday.][ In her writings she later expressed a highly romantic view of rural life and contempt for urban life.][Carmen Böker]
"Das vermessene Gesicht"
''Berliner Zeitung
The ''Berliner Zeitung'' (, ''Berlin Newspaper'') is a daily newspaper based in Berlin, Germany. Founded in East Germany in 1945, it is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since reunification. It is published by Berliner ...
'' 23 July 2005 Beginning in 1917, she made a series of photo-portraits of Germans of different regions, a selection of which won first prize at an exhibition in Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
in 1926.[ On the strength of this she was able to publish some of them in the '']Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung
The ''Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung'', often abbreviated ''BIZ'', was a German weekly illustrated magazine published in Berlin from 1892 to 1945. It was the first mass-market German magazine and pioneered the format of the illustrated news magazine. ...
'' in 1930.
''Das deutsche Volksgesicht''
Lendvai-Dircksen published her portraits of rural Germans as ''Das deutsche Volksgesicht'' (The Face of the German Volk
The German noun ''Volk'' () translates to people,
both uncountable in the sense of ''people'' as in a crowd, and countable (plural ''Völker'') in the sense of '' a people'' as in an ethnic group or nation (compare the English term ''folk'') ...
) in 1932. It was continued in multiple volumes portraying different regions of the Reich beginning in 1942, both under that title and as ''Das germanische Volksgesicht'' (The Face of the Germanic Volk), now including volumes on, for example, Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
and Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.
''Autobahn''
Under the Third Reich she received state commissions, notably one from Fritz Todt
Fritz Todt (; 4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942) was a German construction engineer and senior Nazi who rose from the position of Inspector General for German Roadways, in which he directed the construction of the German autobahns (''Reichsa ...
for portraits of ''Autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
'' construction workers, originally commissioned for the ''Schaffendes Volk'' exhibition of 1937 as part of Todt's effort to have the best photographers in the Reich artistically reproduce the new autobahn.[Claudia Gabriele Philipp, "'Die schöne Straße im Bau und unter Verkehr'. Zur Konstituierung des Mythos von der Autobahn durch die mediale Verbreitung und Ästhetik der Fotografie", in ''Reichsautobahn: Pyramiden des Dritten Reichs. Analysen zur Ästhetik eines unbewältigten Mythos'', ed. Reiner Stommer with Claudia Gabriele Philipp, Marburg: Jonas, 1982, , pp. 111–34, p. 117 ][Ulrich Hägele, "Erna Lendvai-Dircksen und die Ikonografie der völkischen Fotografie", in ''Menschenbild und Volksgesicht'', pp. 78–98]
p. 78
Todt specifically required her to "photographically epictthe visages of his Reich autobahn workers from the various regions of the Fatherland". The book appeared in 1937 and in a revised edition in 1942. Presumably Todt chose her on the basis of her work in ''Das deutsche Volksgesicht'', and the autobahn book follows a similar plan, following the course of the construction from North Germany south into the Alps, and in each region following illustrations of the landscape and the autobahn, especially the bridges, with depictions of local men working on the project. Her pictures of the new bridges emphasise the stonework and the aesthetics of the arches, in some cases using compositional techniques reminiscent of New Objectivity
The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, who ...
, in others situating the gigantic constructions in nature and in tradition, suggesting their lengthy future existence; in one image, a farmer ploughing with a team of oxen is shown beneath an autobahn bridge. Those of the workers, which dominate the book, heroicise them by depicting them individually, in tight close-up and from beneath; she makes use of the "cult of the beautiful body" as in Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl (; 22 August 1902 – 8 September 2003) was a German film director, photographer and actress known for her role in producing Nazi propaganda.
A talented swimmer and an artist, Riefenstahl also became in ...
's ''Olympia
The name Olympia may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games
* ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
''.[Maxwell]
p. 199
Only occasionally does she pose them looking at the camera, and she rarely shows their tools and then only as illustrations of strength or elements of the composition; she also emphasises hand-work, giving the impression the autobahn was built using very little heavy machinery.[ Captions such as "After years of unemployment, I am once again earning honest bread for seven sons and a daughter" emphasise the importance of the autobahn as a means of reducing unemployment, and ignore the reality of forced labour and the bad conditions in the workers' camps reported by eyewitnesses in favour of the propaganda message.
]
''Volk und Rasse''
She was also the main photographer of children for the eugenicist
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...
periodical '' Volk und Rasse'', posing them in traditional dress and under harsh lighting to clearly capture their desirable racial characteristics.[
]
Later career
In 1943, to escape the bombing of Berlin, she moved to Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...
; in 1945 she lost her archives fleeing from there, and settled in Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...
,[Claudia Gabriele Philipp and Horst W. Scholz, ''Photographische Perspektiven aus den Zwanziger Jahren'', Dokumente der Photographie 4, exhibition catalogue, Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, 1994, ]
p. 208
where from the 1950s she began to concentrate on landscape photography
Landscape photography shows the spaces within the world, sometimes vast and unending, but other times microscopic. Landscape photographs typically capture the presence of nature but can also focus on man-made features or disturbances of landscapes ...
in colour.[ Her postwar work is housed in the Agfa Foto-Historama in ]Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
.[
]
Exhibitions and honours
In addition to the Frankfurt show in 1926 at which she won first prize, Lendvai-Dircksen's portraits were exhibited at the ''Pressa'' in Cologne in 1928, and a touring exhibition of the series visited various German cities beginning in autumn 1933. The same year, she was accorded a special exhibition in Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...
by the Gesellschaft Deutscher Lichtbildner (Society of German Photographers, predecessor of the Deutsche Fotografische Akademie).[ After the war she exhibited in Coburg and Stuttgart in 1953 and in Cologne in 1958, and landscapes by her were featured at the Cologne Photo-kina in 1960.][Claudia Gabriele Philipp, "Erna Lendvai-Dircksen (1883–1962): Präsentantin einer weiblichen Kunsttradition oder Propagandistin des Nationalsozialismus?", in ''Frauen und Macht: der alltägliche Beitrag der Frauen zur Politik des Patriarchats'', ed. Barbara Schaeffer-Hegel, papers from a conference held at the ]Technical University of Berlin
The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...
, November 1983, 1988; 2nd ed. Feministische Theorie und Politik 2, Pfaffenweiler: Centaurus, 1988, , pp. 58–74
p. 64
The Gesellschaft Deutscher Lichtbildner awarded her their highest honour, the David Octavius Hill Medal, in 1958.[
]
Critical reception
Lendvai-Dircksen's portraits of farmers suited the Nazi ethos except that in her initial publication, almost all her subjects were old, and indeed she clearly portrayed the damage to their bodies as a sign of authenticity. She later widened her focus to include children. She never, however, photographed sport, whether for technical reasons or because of her personal philosophy.
Although Lendvai-Dircksen has been referred to as "brown Erna" for the promotion of Nazi ideals in her work under the Third Reich, her portrait photography can be compared to the work of Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange' ...
or Walker Evans
Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...
as documentation of impoverished people, and Margaret Bourke-White
Margaret Bourke-White (; June 14, 1904 – August 27, 1971), an American photographer and documentary photographer, became arguably best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of Soviet industry under the Soviets' ...
also photographed labourers in a heroic light.[ As pointed out by Berlin photographic curator Janos Frecot in the catalogue of an exhibition at the ]Albertina
The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...
which included her work, her portraits and those of others at the time can be seen as applications of the same ethnographic
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
principle as portraits of people in faraway cultures;[ similarly, Leesa Rittelmann has shown that the same principle of characterising a country by the physiognomies of its people, although a throwback to 19th-century theories, was shared by Weimar-era photographers such as the progressive ]August Sander
August Sander (17 November 1876 – 20 April 1964) was a German portrait and documentary photographer. His first book ''Face of our Time'' (German: ''Antlitz der Zeit'') was published in 1929. Sander has been described as "the most important Ger ...
, in his ''Antlitz der Zeit'' (Face of Our Time).
Private life
Dircksen was married from 1906 to 1910 to Adolf Göschel, with whom she had a daughter,[ and from 1913 to 1924 to the Hungarian composer ]Erwin Lendvai
Erwin Lendvai (4 June 1882, in Budapest – 21 March 1949 in Epsom, Surrey) was a Hungarian composer and choral conductor. He was an uncle of the composer Kamilló Lendvay.
Lendvai was born in Budapest. He graduated from the National Music ...
. She died in 1962 in Coburg.
Selected publications
Lendvai-Dircksen published at least twenty photographic albums which sold some 250,000 copies and of which at least six were reprinted.[Thomas Friedrich, "Erna Lendvai-Dircksen selbständige Veröffentlichungen", in ''Menschenbild und Volksgesicht'', pp. 49–53]
p. 53
These included:
* ''Das deutsche Volksgesicht''. Berlin: Kulturelle Verlagsgesellschaft, 1932.
* ''Unsere deutschen Kinder''. Text by Paul Seelhoff. Berlin: Schönfeld, 1932.
* ''Das Gesicht des deutschen Ostens''. Berlin: Zeitgeschichte, 935
Year 935 ( CMXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Spring – Arnulf I ("the Bad") of Bavaria invades Italy, crossing through the Upper ...
* ''Bergmenschen''. Deutsche Meisteraufnahmen 4. Munich: Bruckmann, 1936.
* ''Nordseemenschen''. Deutsche Meisteraufnahmen 9. Munich: Bruckmann, 1937.
* '' Arbeit Formt das Gesicht''. Aus dem Archiv der Henschel Flugzeug-Werke AG. 1938.
* ''Reichsautobahn. Mensch und Werk.'' Gedichte und Sprüche erses and epigrams Emil Maier. Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen. Berlin: Volk und Reich, 1937.
* ''Reichsautobahn. Mensch und Werk. 99 Aufnahmen''. 2nd ed. Worte und Gedichte ords and verses Emil Maier-Dorn. Geleitwort orward General-Inspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen Dr.-Ing. Fritz Todt. Bayreuth: Gauverlag, 1942.
* ''Das deutsche Volksgesicht'' / ''Das germanische Volksgesicht''. Bayreuth: Gauverlag, multiple volumes, 1942–44.
* ''Das deutsche Volksgesicht: ein Bildwerk in 145 Bildnissen von Erna Lendvai-Dircksen''. Selection ed. Helmut Schröcke. Tübingen: Grabert, 2003.
* ''Urgestalt in Kreide und Granit: in zwei Bildkapiteln''. Essen: Burkhard-Verlag Heyer, 1960.
* ''Ein deutsches Menschenbild; Antlitz des Volkes''. Frankfurt: Umschau, 1961.
She published an essay on her approach to photography:
* "Zur Psychologie des Sehens". ''Das Deutsche Lichtbild'' 1931 (n.p.)
References
Further reading
* C.G. Philipp. "Erna Lendvai-Dircksen (1883–1962): Verschiedene Möglichkeiten, eine Fotografin zu rezipieren". ''Fotogeschichte'' 3.7 (1983) 39–56
* Michael Lohaus. "Das Leben und Werk von Erna Lendvai-Dircksen (1883–1962) bis zum Beginn der 30er Jahre". M.A. thesis, 1997
* Andres Zervigón. "Lendvai-Dircksen's German Volk Face: The Aesthetics and Reception of Fascist Abjection: Lecture on Erna Lendvai-Dircksen's Nazi-Era Photography". Paper presented at the College Association Conference, New York, 13 February 1997.
* Claudia Schmölders. "Das Gesicht von Blut und Boden. Erna Lendvai-Dircksens Kunstgeographie". In Paula Diehl, ed. ''Körper im Nationalsozialismus. Bilder und Praxen''. Paderborn: Fink, 2006, . pp. 51–78
* Sonja Longolius. ''Erna Lendvai-Dircksen—Modernes Sehen in Deutschland nach 1933?'' Munich: GRIN, 2007. (published on demand)
* Andres Zervigón. "Modernity Inverted. Looking Closely at Erna Lendvai-Dircksen’s ''Face of the German Race''". Paper presented at the Shelby Cullum Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University, 20 February 2009.
External links
Works by and about Erna Lendvai-Dircksen
at the German National Library
The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lendvai-Dircksen, Erna
1883 births
1962 deaths
Photographers from Hesse
Nazi propagandists
German women photographers
Women in Nazi Germany
People from Waldeck-Frankenberg
Artists from Coburg