J.F.Stiehm
Photographer and Publisher in 19th Century Berlin
von Hartmut Wettmann, Berlin
Berlin expanded rapidly in the second half of the 19th Century. The city which had 300,000 inhabitants in 1840, recorded over 500,000 in 1858. In 1877 the population had risen to a million, in 1905 there were already 2 million people. As a result of the Weaver Revolt in Schlesia in 1844 there was a tremendous influx of people from the countryside. The Berliners were outnumbered, those born in Berlin were a minority within a minority. Town planning was not conceived of then, and the notorious practice of raising taxes on the basis of the length of the facade of houses led to an extremely overcrowded method of building; what is now known as the typical Berliner 'Hinterhöfen' or courtyards, leading from one house into the next, came into being. These houses were divided into the smallest possible units, and here the lower strata of society, menials, tailors, factory workers, etc. lived in crowded and uncomfortable quarters. The rooms were small, dark, damp and as a consequence unhealthy. Many people shared a room, and slept in shifts. Families often took in a "paying guest" or "sleeper" in order to afford the high rents. In this way, large chains of rented apartments came into being, with a very rich mixture of people with
different professions. In residential areas there were pubs, cow sheds, shops, horse and carriage undertakings or coal merchants. Especially after the establishment of the Reich in 1871, Berlin as the capital attracted a large number of people, and buildings sprang up alarmingly. Living conditions of the lower classes in the crowded living and factory areas of the metropole were appalling; over a large period of time the development of the city could not keep up with the demands of the increasing population. Water pipes were laid only in 1856 and a sewerage system as late as 1873. Sanitary conditions were needless to say, absolutely shocking, almost unimaginable today. Added to all this there was an epidemic of small pox after the war in 1871. Moabit Hospital was a consequence of this epidemic - it started out as a field hospital to take care of the victims. The city had about twenty weekly markets, which were also considered to be unhygienic and in 1871 new market halls were built, some of which exist even today.
After Friedrich Wilhelm IV 's futile attempt to establish a 'Ständestaat', general dissatisfaction with the monarchy led to the March Revolution of 1848, which alone in Berlin took a toll of 300 lives. The next king Wilhelm I is remembered by the Berliners as the Kartätschenprinz, or a sharp shooter; he quelled this revolt mercilessly. The constitution of the city then underlined the sovereignty of the state. In 1850, only 5% of the population had the right to vote. Wilhelm I appointed Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor in 1862, and the latter ensued on a campaign of uniting the various German states. After the succesful war against France, Berlin was made the capital of the German Empire, and it soon became the political, economic and cultural center. In 1888 when Wilhelm I was succeeded by Friedrich III, liberal circles hoped that there would be an improvement. He died however of cancer after being in office for only 99 days. He was followed by Wilhelm II, who was a confirmed nationalist. All his speeches were fired with his views of Germany playing a far greater role in international affairs due to her rapid economic growth. Berliners with their general lack of respect gave him the nickname 'Lehmann' or "show-off". He led Germany into the next century and the catastrophe of the First World War.
The developments in photography in this difficult period were amazing. There were already more than a hundred photographers in Berlin in 1861; the 'Allgemeine Adress-Handbuch ausübender Photographen' 1866, or 'general
Directory of practising photographers' of 1866 had a list of 150 names. In addition to this there were six stereoscope producers and stores (including famous names like Eckenrath, Linde, Moser sen.). In 1873 apart from 100 photographers, there were twenty one photography and stereoscope firms as well as manufacturers of photographic paper, utensils and frames. Many photographers came from other professions; artists and painters tried their luck with the new technique. Even mechanics and people of various professions saw a new chance. Originally photographs were very expensive, but new techniques saw prices sliding, so that even ordinary people were able to afford them. Photographs of this period were mainly portraits and groups of people. It was fashionable to collect portraits of famous persons, family and friends. Inexpensive carte-de-visite were one of the reasons for
the widespread use of photographs. There were just a few copies of street scenes and landscapes, pictures depicting unfavourable social conditions were almost non-existant. Heinrich Zille was the first photographer, who attempted to show ordinary conditions of life during the years 1890 - 1910; but he hardly played a role in this field.
Photographs of landscapes and cities were sold in shops at railway-stations and hotels, as well as souvenir shops like picture postcards are today. Photographers of the time produced large negatives and stereo photographs.
The amazing effect of the latter is due to the fact that the picture on the left is taken from the perspective of the left eye, and that on the right from the perspective of the right eye. At the beginning this was done with a single lens camera, which was moved on a mounted rod. But gradually in the 1860s the practice of using cameras with two lenses increased. Looking through a stereoscope, both pictures melt into a three dimensional image, thereby giving the impression of a large picture inspite of a rather small format. Stereo photographs became very popular after the World Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851. People started collecting these photographs and soon most households owned a stereoscope. Firms started to specialize in producing these photographs in large numbers. The London Stereoscopic Company sold a million photographs in 1862. Due to the small negative, stereo cameras were able to take pictures of movable objects pretty early.
Johann Friedrich Stiehm, born on February 22, 1826, came to Berlin as a trader of wine and colonial goods. He established a photographic studio in 1861 and worked until 1863 with his partner Ed. Fiermann. After 1863 he moved to the Jägerstrasse 42; in 1868 there was another move to the Markgrafenstrasse 40, where he stayed until 1872. During this time he also took pictures of the German War in 1866, but was unable to publish them, due to copyright laws.
Stiehm presented the views as an album to the king.
The breakthrough came in 1873 after he moved to the Schönhauser Allee 169. As always he lived with his wife Auguste and four children; Ida was born in 1857, Margarethe in 1858, Johannes a year later and Gertrud in 1870.
There were plenty of graphic designers in the area. The neighbourhood was rather colourful. Apart from his studio there was a branch of the Schönhauser Union-Bank in Berlin as well as a teacher and a tailor in his building. In the house next door there was an old lady pensioner, a dentist, a clerk and a green-grocer.
A few years later the Stiehms moved to house number 171. Stiehm called himself a landscape photographer at first, and in 1879 owner of "Engros-Verkaufs der Ansichten von Deutschland, Tirol und Asien in Kabinett and Stereoskopen". The firm must have prospered in the following years. An entry in the Berliner Adressbuch in 1880 runs thus: 'Stiehm, Fr., Landsch.-Photogr., Inh.e. Engr. Verk. d. Ansicht von Deutschl., Tyrol u. Asien in Kabinett u. Stereoskopen, Schönhauser Allee 169'. In 'Gesammt-Verlags-Katalog des Deutschen Buchhandels' (Russel) 1881, Stiehm appears as a "photographic publisher", who traded in views of Berlin, Potsdam and Dresden, a series of the Rhineland with 300 pictures, views of Nürnberg, Upper Bavaria and Tirol. In the 'Berliner Adressbuch' 1899, one reads of 'J. F. Stiehm, Landschaftsphotograph, Stereoskopfarik, Kunsthandlung. Ansichten von Deutschland, Harz, Thuringia, Cassel, Asien und die Südseeinsel. N. Schönhauser Allee 171 E'.
In 'Russel' 1893 there were in addition to the stock mentioned above, series of pictures of Harz, Thuringia, Helgoland and Würzburg, a gallery of sculptures and 'original photographs taken on a voyage of His Majesty's
Ship "Hertha" to the Far East and the South Sea Islands by Paymaster Mr. G. Riemer'. The first part had views of the sea, ship and crew under the 'command of Captain Knorr'. The second volume contained pictures of the journey. HMS Hertha, a covette, set sail for the Far East in October 1874, and returned to Kiel three years later on July 27, 1877 after a successful voyage. It was said that G. Riemer had developed from a 'dilettante of
light' to an 'artist of light'. The 'Photographische Archiv' (Liesegang) of 1877 wrote: 'It is the first time that such an extraordinary journey has been described in such graphic detail; it is especially the first time, that daily activity and life on board a ship has been made available to the general public.' It was probably the pictures of far off lands that attracted so much attention. 'Apart from the pictures of the sea and ship .... there were pictures in particular of Madeira, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, Borne, Sulu and the Phillipines, Amoy, Hongkong and Canton, and of course Japan, Australia, and the Samoan Islands, which were now very much a matter of public interest ..... Auckland, King George Sound, the Suez Canal and Malta'. These photographs appeared simultaneously in Berlin as Stereo photographs and in Kabinett format. The George Eastman House exhibited a very interesting collection of stereo photographs of this journey:
www.geh.org/ne/mismi3/riemer_sum00001.html.
Stiehm collaborated with other art dealers and publishers in Berlin, especially with Linde, who had a Kunsthandlung für Photographie und Stereoskopie' or an 'Art Store for Photography and Stereoscopy' in the Leipziger Strasse in the 1860s. At the time when he founded his publishing house, Stiehm certainly used negatives made by other photographers. Often the photographer's name was not to be seen, this was probably a matter between the photographer and the publisher.
Stiehm used different copyright comments:
Stereoserie 'Die Rheinlande'
Phot. und Verl. von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin N
Fec. J.F. Stiehm Verl. v. Sophus Williams, Berlin, Leipziger Str. 31
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1878
Phot. und Verl. von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1882
Phot. und Verl. von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1884
Phot. und Verl. von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1886
Phot. und Verl. von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1888
Stereoserie 'Ansichten von Deutschland'
Phot. J.F. Stiehm Verlag E. Linde & Co (Sophus Williams)
PH. J.F. Stiehm Verlag E. Linde & Co (Sophus Williams)
Stereoserie 'Berlin und Umgebung'
FEC. J.F. Stiehm. Verl. Sophus Williams (E. Linde)
Stereoserie 'Berlin und Potsdam' (Ansichten von Deutschland)
FEC. J.F. Stiehm. Verlag: E. Linde & Co.
Verlag v. E. Linde, Berlin
Stereoserie 'Berlin'
Fec. J.F. Stiehm. Verl. v. Sophus Williams. Leipziger Str. 31
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1876
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1877
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1878
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1880
Phot. und Verl. von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1883
Phot. und Verl. von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1887
Stereoserie 'Marine' (Reise S.M.S. 'Hertha' nach Ost-Asien und den Südsee Inseln)
Photographie von G. Riemer Zahlmeister SMS Hertha Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1883
Cabinett
Photographie und Verlag von J.F. Stiehm, Berlin 1877
Carte de Visite
PH. J.F. Stiehm. Verl. E. Linde & Co (Sophus Williams)
Interestingly enough, there are also stereo photographs with the comment 'Fec. J. F. Stiehm Verl. v. Sophus Williams, Berlin, Leipziger Strasse 31' and 'Verl. von Gustav Liersch and Co., Berlin W.', which originate from the same negatives, ('Fec' stands for the Latin 'fecit', which means 'he has done it'). One could however assume, that Stiehm was in the first place a photographer and published his own photos.
Comparing Stiehm's photos to those of other photographers, one is amazed at the relatively large number of photographs that still exist today. He probably took a large number. They are certainly of excellent quality, an
indication that he was a master of his art. The pictures often depict public buildings and monuments, with people in the foreground. His photographs depicting busy market scenes at the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin are famous. Kroll's garden is also an often photographed motif, as well as rooms like the picture gallery in the Royal Palace or the Central Skating Rink' in 1878. Particularly charming are the ladies with their parasols, riding up the Drachenfels on donkeys, or the pile of handmade pottery in front of the Apollinaris fountain.
Like all his colleagues, Stiehm was very interested in technical developments, and was one the first to experiment with dry plates. There was a report about a meeting on May 1, 1868, in the 'Photographische Mittheilungen, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Photographen-Vereins': "Mr. Stiehm reported about his experience with Hanrecker's dry plates. He photographed the inner chamber of the Mausoleum in Charlottenburg, which is known to be very dark, with a triplet lens and 1 ½ hours exposure time, and was very pleased with the result." He added that the plates were two days old, and that earlier experiments with coffee dry plates had been fraught with difficulties. He took in an active interest in the activities of his guild, and was avidly interested in new techniques, lenses etc. Stiehm died on July 20, 1902, at home in the Schönhauser Allee 171; his wife Auguste (née Wiesener) looked after the usiness until 1905.
References:
Bezirksamt Tiergarten Tiergarten - Vom kurfürstlichen Jagdrevier zum Stadtbezirk im Zentrum Berlins
Bodo von Dewitz und Roland Scotti Alles Wahrheit! Alles Lüge! Photographie und Wirklichkeit im 19. Jahrhundert - Die Sammlung Robert Lebeck
Berliner Zeitung 10.01.02 Berlins Markthallen
Rober Schaefer's Verlag, Leipzig 1866 Allgemeine Adress-Handbuch ausübender Photographen von Deutschland, den österr. Kaiserstaaten, der Schweiz und den Hauptstädten der angrenzenden Länder
Schirmer/Mosel Heinrich Zille - Das alte Berlin - Photographien 1890 - 1910
Adolph Russel's Verlag Gesammt-Verlags-Katalog des Deutschen Buchhandels
Liesegang Photographisches Archiv
A. Moll, Wien 'Photographische Notizen' Jahrgang 1868
Photographischer Verein Berlin Zeitschrift 'Licht' 1871
Bodo von Dewitz und Wolfgang Horbert (Hrsg) Schatzhäuser der Photographie - Die Sammlung des Fürsten zu Wied
22.05.2002
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