Theodor Hilsdorf (18 June 1868, Bingen – 1944,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) was a German photographer who held an official position at the Royal Bavarian Court.

Life and work

His father, Johann Baptist Hilsdorf, was also a photographer. He and his younger brother,

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

, who would also become a photographer, took their first lessons in his studio. They also studied drawing with an artist in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

. After completing his training, he made the acquaintance of . In 1891, he joined Müller's studio in Munich and soon became his business partner. He specialized in large format sepia-toned portraits, which he presented at exhibitions. In 1893, he became engaged to Müller's daughter, Emilie. They were married in 1894, after he had spent a year in the United States, and had several children, including Johanna (1900–1997) and Carola (1903–1983), who were employed at the

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. Following Müller's death in 1903, Hilsdorf took over the studio but retained his step-father's name, calling it the Friedrich Müller-Hilsdorf studio. In 1905, he was appointed "Royal Bavarian Court Photographer" by

Prince Regent Luitpold ''Leopold Charles Joseph William Louis'' , image_size = , image = Luitpold Wittelsbach cropped.jpg , succession = Prince Regent of Bavaria , reign = 10 June 1886 – 12 December 1912 , reign-type = Tenure , regent = Lud ...

. He did not, however, limit himself to photographing the Royal Family; he also did portraits of faculty from the

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, theatre actors, and opera singers. His portraits of

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Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

and

Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships a ...

became part of the standard publishing repertoire until the 1930s. In 1945, during World War II, his studio was destroyed, resulting in the loss of over 100,000 negatives. Fewer than 2,000 photographic plates have survived and are currently held by the Munich Stadtmuseum. His work was largely forgotten until 1978, when an exhibition of his brother Jacob's work was held in Bingen. This stimulated interest and an exhibition of his work followed in 1983.

Sources

* Berthold Roland (Ed.): ''Theodor Hilsdorf 1868–1944. Königlich-Bayerischer Hofphotograph'',

Landesmuseum Mainz The Landesmuseum Mainz, or Mainz State Museum, is a museum of art and history in Mainz, Germany. In March 2010 it reopened in full after an extensive renovation. The museum has its roots in a painting collection donated by Napoleon and Chapta ...

, 1987 * Berthold Roland (Ed.): ''Nicola Perscheid, Theodor und Jacob Hilsdorf, August Sander. Der rheinland-pfälzische Beitrag zur Geschichte der Photographie'', exhibition catalog, Landesmuseum, 1989 * Hans-Michael Koetzle, Ulrich Pohlmann (Eds.): ''Münchner Kreise: Der Fotograf Theodor Hilsdorf (1868–1944)''. Kerber, Bielefeld 2007, *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilsdorf, Theodor 1868 births 1944 deaths People from Bingen am Rhein German portrait photographers