Figure 1.--The CDV was an albumen print pasted on a small card. CDVs dominated German photography for four centuries. This colorized German CDV is undated, but we would guess was made in the 1870s. The boy holds open a CDV ablum which has "Bild oder Blut" printed at the front. A German reader tells us, "This not a special album. Actuallu it is a little rude. I am pretty sure this is a commercial CDV. " 'Bild oder Blut' is a threat meaning "picture or blood". You see the boy is holding a big menacing stick. So if you don't give your CDV to add to the album, you have a big problem ... These kind of CDVs were placed on the first page of albums with picture collections. I have one of these CDVs with a more friendly message: a girl with folded hands and the text 'Bitte Dein Bild' ('please your picture')." Click on the image for a discussion of the boy's clothes.

German became a European leader in both film and cameras. Germany in the 20th century is one of the countries most associated with photography. This was not the case in the early phase of the photographic industry. We have much less information on the 19th century. Much of the ground work for photography was developed in France and Britain. The first available commercial photographic process was the Daguerreotype which was developed in France at the end of the 1830s. We see very few early photographic types (like Dags and Ambros) in Germany. There must have been some, but we see more in Britan and France and especially America.We note large numbers of dags, mostly in cases from the 1840s and 50s in America. And by the 1850s other processes like ambrotypes appeareds. We have not yet found substantial numbers of German dags or ambrotypes. We are sonewhat confused by this as surely there must have been mny dags made as although Germany was not yet united, it was one of the more prosperous areas of Europe. We do note large numbers of CDVs in Germany beginning with the 1860s. The CDVs basically made Dags and Ambrotypes obsolete. And for the first time we begin to se substantial numbers of German images. Most families of any affluence would have a CDV album, sometimes several, in the parlour. CDVs seem to gave been the principal formt form most of the late 19th century. Cabinent cards do not seem to have been as popular in Germany as they were in America. Most studio portraits were CDVs. We note large numbers of snapshots after the turn of the 20th century. Photography seems to have been more popular in Germany than in any other European country. Families through World War II would compile albums. Some times children would put together their own albums. Snapshots were pasted on black paper sheets. Germany became a leader in pgotography, including color photography. We note a few beautifully colorized German portraits even in the 1890s. And example is a portrait of an unidentified Thorn family. As far as we know these were painted black and white portraits. We do not note similar portraits in other countries. We do know that German was a leader in color photography. This probably reflects in part the importance of the German chemical industry. Agfa became a leader in color photography. Agfa was more common in Europe than Kodak. World War II changed that. Photography played a role in the rise of the NAZIs. And German soldiers took cameras to war and left a huge body of images about the war. There was also a Propagandakompanien der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces Propaganda Company - PK). Much of Germany's photographic industry and international market share was undone by the NAZIs in World War II and Kodak became the dominant world photograpy leader. <,br>

Daguerreotypes

The first available commercial photographic process was the Daguerreotype which was developed in France at the end of the 1830s. We note large numbers of Dags, mostly in cases from the 1840s and 50s in America. We have been able to find very relatively little information about Dags in Europe, especially in thevvarious German states. While we have found a few German Dags, we do not see cased Dags at all. And Dags in general were far less common in Germany than America. This is difficult to quantify, but we notice that German Dags sell for about 20-25 times as much as American Dags. That is probably a rough index of relative abundance. All of the 1840s photographs were Dags. By the 1850s other processes like Ambrotypes and Tintypes appeare. We have not yet found substantial numbers of German Dags. We are somewhat confused by this as surely there must have been a substantial number of Dags made as the German states were some of the more prosperous areas of Europe. Of course in the 1840s-50s, Germany was not yet unified. There were many different German states with a range of laws governing copyrights, including copyrights on photograohic processes. A variety of issues probably affected the number of German Dags, including copyright law, relative prosperity, and the stage of the industrial revolution. Germany was slower to industrialize than Britain and France, but by mid-century was making rapid progress. Even so, the relative prosperity of average workers and farmers lagged behind that of America and Britain and disposable income was a major factor in the purchasing of a Daguerreotype portrait.

Ambrotypes

We have no information on German Ambrotypes at this time. We do not yet even know if Ambrotype were made in Germany. It does appear that they were not very common. As with Daguerreotype, we are not sure why Amrotypes were not common in Germany. Of course the Ambrotype was developed later than the Daguerrotype and only a few years after its development, the CDV rapidly replaced the earlier formats.

Tintypes

We know very little about German tintypes / ferrotypes at this time. We are not sure what the German term is. They appeared in the United States during the mid-1850s. We assume this is about when they appeared in Germany. Photographic technology once developed was fairly basic and thus spread very quickly in Europe and North America. Most of the information on the internet about tintypes refers to America. And we have found very few German tintypes. Our assessment is based largely on internet sales which is not a perfect indicator, bur probanly a reasonable indicator of relative abundance--at lwast until we are able to find more definitive information. In America, tintypes werr relatively inexpensive nd often produced at low-cost, often rudimentary studios. This appears to be the case in Germany as well. We see tintypes into the early 20th century, but not commonly after World War I.

Albumen Process

We do note large numbers of CDVs in Germany beginning with the 1860s. The CDVs basically made dags and ambrotypes obsolete. Most families of any affluence would have a CDV album, sometimes several, in the parlour. CDVs seem to gave been the principal formt form most of the late 19th century. Cabinent cards do not seem to have been as popular in Germany as they were in America. This is a major difference in the photographic record. In America, caninent cards largely replaced the CDV format in the 1870s. This did not occur in German and many other European countries. We are not sure why this dichotomy developed. Most studio portraits were CDVs until the very late 1890s. We see large numbers of cabinent cards in the 1900s, but only in that single decade. By the 1910s we see silvernitrate portraits in other formats such as post cards and portraits with paper frames.

Silver Nitrate Portraits

Amateur Snapshots

Photogrsaphs in the 19th centurywere mostly studio portraits. This chnged dramatically, as in America, with the turn-of-the 20th century. Simple cameras and fast emulsions meant that virtually anyone could successfully pursue photography. And the ModesT prices meant that it was something that even modest-income families could pursue. We note large numbers of snapshots in the 20th century. Photography seems to have been more popular in Germany than in any other European country. We notice enormous numbers of snapshots in addition to studio portaits. The snapshots provide us information about both clothing and life style that studio portraits could not offer. We see how children dressed and played in everyday life and not just when they dressed up for a formal portrit. Some as in America were done with postcard backs. We are not familiar with the stamp boxes. The borders, edges, and printing styles can be useful in dating undated images. Families through World War II would prepare photographic albums. Some times children would put together their own albums. Snapshots were pasted on black paper sheets. Germany became a leader in photography, including color photography. The German company Agfa was one of the photographic giants. Agfa was more common in Europe than Kodak. World War II changed that.

Color Photography

We do know that German was a leader in color photography. This probably reflects in part the importance of the German chemical industry. Agfa became a leader in color photography. Agfa was more common in Europe than Kodak. World War II changed that.

World War II

World War II changed Germany strong positiin in photographic industry. Photography played a role in the rise of the NAZIs. And German soldiers took cameras to war and left a huge body of images about the war. German soldier photograph left a chilling vission of Operation Barbarossa with many images of children. Much of this focused on Belorussia and Ukraine. There was a Propagandakompanien der Wehrmacht (Armed Forces Propaganda Company - PK). We note quite a number of photographs taken by German combat correspondent and photographer Max Ehlert. Unfortunately we have been able to find little information about him. We note his photograpjs from Poland (1939), Norway (1940), and we think the Soviet Union (1941). He survived the War and had a comfortable life as a photographer for Der Spiegel. Much of Germany's photographic industry and international market share was undone by the NAZIs in World War II and Kodak became the dominant world photograpy leader.

Created: 4:12 PM 1/1/2008
Last updated: 6:35 PM 1/2/2011