Franz Fiedler (17 February 1885 in

Prostějov Prostějov (; german: Proßnitz) is a city in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 43,000 inhabitants. The city is known for its fashion industry. The historical city centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

– 5 February 1956 in

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 ...

, GDR) was a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

. Fiedler was born in Prostějov, near

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

. Fiedler was a pupil of

Hugo Erfurth Hugo Erfurth (14 October 1874 – 14 February 1948) was a German photographer known for his portraits of celebrities and cultural figures of the early twentieth century. Life Early years Erfurth was born in Halle (Saale), in what was then t ...

. He was regarded as an eccentric during his apprenticeship in Pilsen, and worked in 1905 and again in 1912 with Rudof Dührkoop in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and from 1908 to 1911 with

. At the 1911 world exhibition in Turin he won first prize and had another exhibition in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

in 1913. He belonged to the circle of

Jaroslav Hašek Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czech writer, humorist, satirist, journalist, bohemian and anarchist. He is best known for his novel '' The Fate of the Good Soldier Švejk during the World War'', an unfinished collection of farcical inc ...

and

Egon Erwin Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Raging Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners of the ...

and in 1916 married Erna Hauswald in Dresden where he occupied a studio at Sedanstraße 7. From 1919, and coincidental with his friendship with ''Madame d'Ora'' ( Dora Kallmus, of

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

who was later to move to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

) he began to work with a 9×12

folding camera A folding camera is a camera type. Folding cameras fold into a compact and rugged package for storage. The lens and shutter are attached to a lens-board which is connected to the body of the camera by a light-tight folding bellows. When the c ...

and in 1924 became one of the first professional photographers to use a Leica. After expanding his studio in 1925, he took part in the exhibition ''"Film und Foto"'' in Stuttgart. The outstanding publication on the city of

, conceived in the spirit of ''Die Neue Sachlichkeit'', is one of the first illustrated works created according to the new principles of photography. It marks a turning point in his work. To the same series of publications, published by

Adolf Behne Adolf Behne (13 July 1885 – 22 August 1948) was a critic, art historian, architectural writer, and artistic activist. He was one of the leaders of the Avant Garde in the Weimar Republic. Behne was born in Magdeburg and studied architecture br ...

, belongs 'Berlin in Bildern' by Sasha Stone. That work was the subject of a show at the turn of the year (2006/7) in the '' Berlinischen Galerie''. Fiedler's studio was destroyed by the Royal Air Force & US Air Force on 13 February 1945. All that was left was a box with photographs for exhibition which was deposited with his family in

. After 1945 he did not have his own studio and earned a living in the GDR as author of books on photography. Anneliese Kretschmer, Dortmund, is one of his pupils.

Publications

* Dresden in Bildern', Aufnahmen von Franz Fiedler'', herausgegeben von Hans Wolfgang Singer, Wien, Leipzig, Verlag Dr. Hans Epstein, 1930 ('Orbis urbium – Schöne Städte in schönen Bildern'). * Dufek, Antonin, ''Franz Fiedler, Fotografie/Photographs/Fotografien'' (Brünn, Prag, 2005) * ''Franz Fiedler. Fotografie''. Technische Sammlungen der Stadt Dresden, Ausstellung 4.4.-3.6.2007

External links

*
Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fiedler, Franz 1885 births 1956 deaths People from Prostějov People from the Margraviate of Moravia Moravian-German people Photographers from Dresden