Heinrich Heidersberger , who died in 2006 at the age of 100, has his place among the most important German photographers of the second half of the 20th century. Seminal images in the fields of architecture and advertising mark his complex life’s work, and his name as an artist is of great repute as well. An exceptional photographer of the modernist aesthetic, Heinrich Heidersberger knew exactly how to combine the documentary approach of photography with modernist ideas. In his photographs he combines function and visual aesthetics, incorporating economic, technical, and social aspects into his perfectly balanced pictures. The aesthetic ideas of modernism were influenced by the notion of structure. Heidersberger’s photographs open our understanding of these structural laws in a surprising and creative way. In his photographs of post-war architecture of the fifties Heidersberger revealed the aesthetics of modernism, thus presenting them as an interplay of structure and form. Heidersberger’s images have retained their importance in photography, in spite of all of the visual styles and trends that have developed over the last decades.
| 1906 | born 10 June in Ingolstadt, Germany. After the death of his father, he spends time as a “Wienerkind” in Denmark |
| High school graduation in Linz, Austria. Short studies of architecture in Graz | |
| 1928–31 | Stay in Paris, visit to Fernand Léger’s painting atelier. First photographic work together with Ida Kar. Meets Piet Mondrian and Yves Tanguy |
| 1931–35 | Lives in Den Haag and Copenhagen |
| 1936 | Moves to Berlin. Works as a photojournalist for Ullstein und Scherl and as a photographer. First publications in the international year book Photographie. First pictures in architecture photography. Published works in: Das deutsche Lichtbild, 1936/37 |
| 1937–38 | Publication of the book Ein deutsches Flugzeugwerk for the Henkel-Werke in Berlin-Adlershof |
| 1938–45 | Director of the picture library of the steel mill of Salzgitter-Lebensstedt, meets Erik Hesselberg, a Norwegian artist who later becomes navigator on the Kon-Tiki expedition led by Thor Heyerdahl in 1947 |
| 1945 | Translator and photographer for the English army |
| 1946 | Opening of the “Studio Five” atelier in Braunschweig, Germany. First exhibition in the Kunstverein Braunschweig. Begins to work as a photo journalist for Stern magazine |
| 1950 | Numerous works commissioned by the architects of the “Braunschweiger Schule” |
| 1955 | Creation of Rhythmogramm’s related to the mural for the Wolfenbüttel school of engineering |
| 1957 | Silver medal for the Rhythmogramm “Triennale,” 11. Triennale di Milano (Esposzione internazionale delle arti decorative e industrie moderne e dell` architettura moderna) Entrance in the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie and in the Deutschen Werkbund. Meets Jean Cocteau |
| 1961 | Moves to Wolfsburg; co-founder of the artist group “Schloßstraße 8” in the castle of Wolfsburg |
| 1963 | Publication of the illustrated book Wolfsburg – Bilder einer jungen Stadt, Bruckmann Verlag München |
| 1966 | Gold medal at the Tonbildschau-Festival in Frankfurt (Sound and image project for the Jena Glass Factory Schott) |
| 1981 | Receives the Cross of Merit of Niedersachsen |
| 1986 | Receives the silver medal of Wolfsburg |
| 1989 | Invitation to Tuscon, Arizona (USA), exhibitions and conferences at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP) of the University of Tucson |
| Travels to Lemvig, Copenhagen, and Paris for the filming of "Die zweite Wirklichkeit" , a movie on the evolution of Heidersberger’s photography (script and direction: Karl-Heinrich Weghorn, Uwe Brodmann, Siegfried Tautz, funded by the Niedersächsische Filmförderung) | |
| 2000 | Start of the systematic archiving of Heidersberger’s lifework by Bernd Rodrian, encouraged by the city of Wolfsburg, the ministry of culture of Niedersachsen and the culture foundation of the Niedersächsischen Sparkassen |
| 2001 | Establishment of the association Atelier Heinrich Heidersberger e.V. for the conservation of Heidersberger’s lifework in Wolfsburg |
| 2002 | Establishment of the Heidersberger Institute dedicated to the archive and the contemporary discussion of Heidersberger’s work |
| 2003 | Granted honorary citizenship of Wolfsburg |
| 2006 | 100th anniversary of Heinrich Heidersberger on June 10th. Beginning of the exhibition “Heidersberger Einhundert” including various stages though Wolfsburg, Braunschweig, Berlin, Cologne, and Linz (Austria) |
| Heinrich Heidersberger dies in Wolfsburg on July 14, 2006 |
Exhibits (Selection)
| 2005 | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM), Karlsruhe |
| Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa), Stuttgart: „Zwei deutsche Architekturen“, Wanderausstellung | |
| 2002 | Kultur unterm Schirm, Kirchentellinsfurt |
| 2001 | Architektenkammer Niedersachsen, Hannover |
| Galerie InFocus, Köln | |
| Kunsthalle Bielefeld: Abstrakte Fotografie | |
| Medienwerkstatt des Caspar-David-Friedrich-Instituts der Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald | |
| 2000 | Stadtmuseum Wolfsburg: Heinrich Heidersberger Architekturphotographie 1952-72 |
| 1999 | Galerie für Fotografie - Georg Eichinger, Berlin |
| 1998 | The Museum of Modern Art, New York (USA) |
| 1997 | Kunstverein Gifhorn: Die Rhythmogramme |
| Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt: Die Rhythmogramme | |
| Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin: Wolfsburg und Eisenhüttenstadt | |
| 1996 | Deutsch-Dänische Gesellschaft, Bad Harzburg |
| Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg | |
| Fotozentrum Zimmermann, Hannover | |
| Goethe-Institut Paris, DGPh (F) | |
| 1995 | Galerie Wendelin Niedlich, Stuttgart |
| 1992 | Museum für Photographie, Braunschweig |
| 1990 | Stadt- und Lichtbildgalerie, Ingolstadt |
| 1989 | Center for Creative Photography (CCP) der Universität Tucson/Arizona (USA) |
| Kunsthalle Bielefeld: Das Foto als autonomes Bild | |
| Bayerische Akademie der Künste, München: Das Foto als autonomes Bild | |
| 1987 | Danmarks Fotomuseum, Herning (DK) |
| Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz (A) | |
| 1986 | Kunstverein Wolfsburg |
| 1984 | Image et Imaginaires d´Architecture, Centre Pompidou, Paris (F) |
| The Photographers Gallery, London (UK) | |
| 1982 | Stadt- und Lichtbildgalerie Ingolstadt |
| 1972 | Olympisches Dorf München: „Haus Wolfsburg“ |
| 1971 | Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg |
| 1967 | Galerie Clarissa, Hannover |
| 1966 | Tonbildschau für Jenaer Glas in Frankfurt |
| Museet for Fotografi, Viborg (DK): Heidersberger fotografier | |
| 1962 | Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg |
| Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz (A) | |
| 1956 | Die Neue Sammlung, München |
| 1946 | Kunstverein Braunschweig |
LINKS
www.heidersberger.de
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