Zander & Labisch was the first German photographic studio which, as a photo agency, dealt exclusively with the production of professional press photos and their direct distribution. [1] The German Administration closed Zander & Labisch in 1939 with the Verordnung zur Ausschaltung der Juden aus dem deutschen Wirtschaftsleben .
The second half of the 19th century saw rapid leaps in the development of photographic and printing technology. This had an impact on all print media. This development was recognised by the engineer and photographer Albert Zander, who came from Chodzież near Posen (1864-1897) and the rabbi and photographer Siegmund Labisch, who came from Szamotuły in the same region (1863-1942) as possibilities and opportunities to develop a business model from the increased demand of publishers, editors and readers for up-to-date press photos of good quality. [2]
The Ullstein Verlag, for example, added its own image etching department to its printing works in 1896 for the faster production of autotypes, which also resulted in shorter editorial times. Previously, it was simply too time-consuming to bring the fine lines of the xylography image blocks into the curvature of the rotary cylinder; photos in daily newspapers therefore remained an exception. [3]
Zander was by then an engineer at the Berlin machine factory Carl Flohr , which had existed since 1844, at Chausseestraße 35, Oranienburger Vorstadt (Berlin-Mitte) [4] It later became the Flohr-OTIS company, specialising in passenger and freight lifts. [5] On 26 May 1895, a fire broke out there, which Zander photographed. Two of his photographs were subsequently published by the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung . [6]
On 19 June 1895, both founded their photo studio in Berlin (Leipziger Straße 105) under the company name Zander & Labisch, Photographischer Betrieb für gewerbliche Zwecke. [7] According to another source, the company was first called Zander & Labisch-Illustrations-Photographen, [8] später firmierten sie als Zander & Labisch Neue Photographische Gesellschaft A. G., [9] zuletzt als Zander & Labisch oHG. [10]
The photo studio specialised in supplying the press, daily newspapers, magazines and illustrated magazines. [12] It was thus involved in the emergence of a tabloid press in Germany. [13] The agency was initially located at Leipziger Straße 105, [14] in close proximity to important newspaper publishers such as the August Scherl publishing house or the Ullstein Verlag. [15] When Zander died unexpectedly early on 12 August 1897, Labisch continued to run the photo studio alone, but kept its company name Zander & Labisch. [16]
The portfolio of the photo studio included daily events and happenings as well as portrait photos of contemporary personalities who were of interest to the press. Already two years later, about one tenth of all photographs published in the Berliner Illustrirten Zeitung were by Zander & Labisch [17] In 1897, the photo studio had to look for larger premises and moved to Mohrenstraße 19, where two of their employees, Olga Badenberg and Waldemar Titzenthaler, had previously worked. [18]
Around the turn of the century, the photo agency set its sights on new fields of activity, such as architecture, industry and theatre photography. As a result, the agency gained new clients in addition to the press: AEG, Borsig, Osram and Siemens were among its renowned internationally active clients. The large companies used 'Zander & Labisch', for example, to have photo documentations of their products made for their company archives, but also for advertising purposes. [19] The photo agency was also active outside Berlin. In 1905, for example, it photographed Jewish institutions in Hamburg for the magazine Ost und West – illustrierte Monatsschrift für das gesamte Judentum . [20]
On 1 October 1917, Labisch took his Strasbourg-born nephew Paul Wittkowsky (1892-1949) into the company as co-owner. In 1918, the agency moved from Mohrenstraße 19 to Leipziger Straße 115/116. There, premises were created for portrait photography, in which a separate department specialised in the future. At this time, the photo agency had nine employees, [21] with whom it was able to work off the numerous orders of the Golden Twenties. [22]
In 1929, the society magazine Die Dame , "das beste Journal seiner Art auf dem Weltmarkt" (the best journal of its kind on the world market), [23] published five full pages of photographs from Alfred Flechtheim's Berlin flat, which was "a celebrity hangout of Berlin at the time" for "artists, bankers, literati, screen and stage stars, journalists, scholars and athletes." [24] The photographs were all made by 'Zander & Labisch'. On the basis of portraits of artists made by the agency, heavily coloured collector's pictures in the series Bühnenstars und ihre Autogramme were also produced under their label, in which the artists posed in costumes of their most famous roles.
The Seizure of Power by the Nazis and their anti-Semitism had a significant impact on 'Zander & Labisch'. The company suffered massive losses in sales. [25] Newspaper publishers no longer placed orders with the company because they were no longer supposed to employ Jewish staff and suppliers. The first redundancies occurred at Zander & Labsich. On 14 March 1936, the agency was excluded from the Reichsverband der deutschen Korrespondenz- und Nachrichtenbüros (Reich Association of German Correspondence and News Agencies) and thus from the superior Reichspressekammer (RPK). [26] In architectural and industrial photography, however, Zander & Labisch was still able to remain active for some time. [27]
In 1938, however, the photo agency had to give up its premises in Leipziger Straße. The remaining business was moved entirely to the private flats of the two owners Labisch and Wittkowsky, where they completed orders from the private sector on a small scale. [28]
As the Verordnung zur Ausschaltung der Juden aus dem deutschen Wirtschaftsleben came into force, [29] Zander & Labisch had to finally cease business activities on 31 December 1938. In 1939, the company was deleted from the Berlin commercial register. Wittkowsky emigrated to Australia on 11 May 1939., [30] Labisch perished in the Theresienstadt Ghetto in 1942. [31]
Karen Duve is a German author. After secondary school, she worked as a proof-reader and taxi driver in Hamburg. Since 1990 she has been a freelance writer.
Leo Blech was a German opera composer and conductor who is perhaps most famous for his work at the Königliches Opernhaus from 1906 to 1937, and later as the conductor of Berlin's Städtische Oper from 1949 to 1953. Blech was known for his reliable, clear, and elegant performances, especially of works by Wagner, Verdi, and Bizet's Carmen, and for his sensitivity as an accompanist.
Sportforum Hohenschönhausen, officially named Sportforum Berlin, is a multi-purpose sports complex in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen of the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. The Sportforum was named Dynamo-Sportforum during the East German era.
Günter Kunert was a German writer. Based in East Berlin, he published poetry from 1947, supported by Bertold Brecht. After he had signed a petition against the deprivation of the citizenship of Wolf Biermann in 1976, he lost his SED membership, and moved to the West two years later. He is regarded as a versatile German writer who wrote short stories, essays, autobiographical works, film scripts and novels. He received international honorary doctorates and awards.
RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V., commonly known as RB Leipzig, Red Bull Leipzig, or simply Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bull GmbH, which purchased the playing rights of fifth-tier side SSV Markranstädt with the intent of advancing the new club to the top-flight Bundesliga within eight years. The men's professional football club is run by the spin-off organization RasenBallsport Leipzig GmbH. RB Leipzig plays its home matches at the Red Bull Arena. The club nickname is Die Roten Bullen.
Father and Son are cartoon figures created by E. O. Plauen. The pantomime comic depicts a plump, balding father and his son grappling with various everyday situations. The cartoon was a weekly feature in the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung from 1934 to 1937.
Hans Joachim Schliep is a German Lutheran theologian, pastor and author. From 1990 to 1999 he was director of the Amt für Gemeindedienst, and by May 2000 the commissioner for the environment of the Church of Hanover and the Confederation of Protestant Churches in Lower Saxony. From 1999 to 2008 Schliep was the first pastor at the Kronsberg Church Centre and founder of the congregation at the Expo-neighbourhood in Kronsberg, Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany.
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.
Annemarie von Nathusius, originally Anna Maria Luise von Nathusius, was a German novelist who wrote boldly about issues of women’s sexuality and lived a distinctly unconventional life. In her books, she criticized the sexual ignorance and exploitative marriages imposed on young women of her class. Her most successful novel was Das törichte Herz der Julie von Voß. The novel Malmaison 1922 was film adapted by Paul Ludwig Stein for the movie Es leuchtet meine Liebe.
Johannes Stroux was a German classicist, scholar of Roman law and organizer of scientific projects and organizations. In 1945 he became rector of the Berlin University and president of the Berlin Academy of Science.
Hella Maria Brock was a German music educator, musicologist, and an internationally known Edvard Grieg scholar. Brock was professor of music and English studies at the Leipzig University. She was president, and honorary president of the Grieg-Begegnungsstätte in Leipzig until her death in 2020.
Peter Heinz Feist was a German art historian.
Gerhart von Westerman was a German composer, artistic director and music writer.
Kurt Szafranski, in exile Safranski, was a German-American draftsman, journalist and managing director. In Germany, he illustrated Kurt Tucholsky's Rheinsberg in 1912, and was managing director of the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung (BIZ). In exile in the U.S., he was a co-founder of the Black Star, a leading photo agency.
Nathan "Noto" Notowicz was a German musicologist and composer.
Auguste Lilly Marga Baruch was a German photographer who worked and lived in Berlin in the 1920s.
Albert Zander was a German engineer, photographer and entrepreneur. He was instrumental in the emergence of German tabloid journalism.
Siegmund Labisch was a businessman, photographer and co-founder of the Zander & Labisch photo agency.
Waldemar Franz Hermann Titzenthaler was a German photographer.
The Berlin Immigration Office replaced the former Ausländerbehörde in 2020. It still serves as Berlin's Ausländerbehörde, and Germany's largest, with 540 staff and 400,000 clients per year. The Berlin Immigration Office is under the stewardship of the Berlin Senate Department for the Interior, Digitalisation and Sports.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
