Deutsches Theatermuseum, Munich (Germany)

In 1913 Nini and Carry Hess established a photography studio in Frankfurt, which soon became one of the most respected in Germany . Their cameras presented the theatre between the past and the future, between expressionism and the Neue Sachlichkeit (or ‘New Objectivity`); and portrayed artists representing Frankfurt’s cultural life, hosting special guest performances by the Habima Theatre. Throughout, sensitive pictures of the “New Woman” were a focal point – from both onstage and offstage perspectives.

In an embattled market at the beginning of the 1930s, Gertrude Fuld photographed Munich’s theatrical life, presenting documentary theatrical testimony at a time of ominous change.

Following the seizure of power by the National Socialists, all three women were deprived of their means of livelihood in Germany because of their Jewish backgrounds: the lives and work of Nini and Carry Hess were destroyed. Gertrude Fuld escaped with her partner Jules Fehr – who subsequently became her husband – via Paris to Switzerland, where in 1940 she established a photography school in Lausanne using her husband’s name of Fehr.

The art studio which, along with the complete works of the Hess sisters, was completely destroyed during Kristallnacht (or `Pogrom Night‘), was first extensively reconstructed in 2022 at an exhibition of the Museum Giersch at the Goethe University in Frankfurt. This exhibition at the German Theatre Museum is a partial acquisition, with a focus on theatre photography and includes works of Munich photographers.

A partial acquisition from the Museum Giersch at the Goethe University in Frankfurt.
With the kind support of the Cultural Center of the Israeli cultural community of Munich and Upper Bavaria.

www.deutschestheatermuseum.de