Photography in the Weimar Republic

LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn
October 1, 2019 to January 19, 2020

In collaboration with the German Photo Library Dresden, the F.C. Gundlach Foundation Hamburg and with the support of ullstein bild collection Berlin, funded by the Arts Foundation NRW.

The years of the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933 played a unique role in the development of photography. The artistic photography of the "New Vision," whose invention and dissemination were attributed to the Russian avant-garde and the Bauhaus, was juxtaposed with photojournalism and documentary photography as a second focus. The photo reportage was invented: photography and text now combined ingeniously in the search for journalistic truth, but also for what was perceived as such or what one wanted to make of it. Photographers like Erich Salomon and reporters like Egon Erwin Kisch achieved unprecedented fame. The Berliner Illustrirte, with a circulation of up to two million copies at times, was the world's most widely circulated printed publication.

The presentation approaches the photography of the Weimar Republic from a new perspective, neither chronologically, nor oriented towards important photographers or artistic movements, but rather overarchingly through concepts. These concepts represent the eventful history of these years: revolution and republic, workers' photography, sport and movement, architecture, fashion and dance are just some of the thematic areas through which the various media forms of photography are related to one another, using original prints from the archives alongside magazines, postcards, picture books, posters and other materials.

The extensive archives of the cooperation partners and selected loans, including those from the ullstein bild collection Berlin, offer a fresh perspective on the multifaceted nature of everyday life in Weimar – from its hopeful beginnings in 1918/19 to its demise in 1933. The exhibition juxtaposes the great photographers of the era, such as August Sander, Lotte Jacobi, Hugo Erfurth, Martin Munkacsi, Yva, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Erich Salomon, Umbo, Werner Mantz, and Albert Renger-Patzsch, with formerly well-known but now often forgotten figures. The presentation thus provides a unique insight into the cultural history of the Weimar Republic.

In addition, visitors can browse through numerous original publications from the period between 1918 and 1933 in the Studiolo of the exhibition.

LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn
Colmantstr. 14-16
53115 Bonn

Museum opening hours
Tue to Sun and public holidays 11am - 6pm, Sat 1pm - 6pm
Closed on Mondays
Guided tours for school classes are possible from 10 am.