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Images - Friedrich Seidenstücker: Short Biography

1882 Born on September 26th in Unna (Westphalia).
1901-03 Studies as an engineer at the School for Mechanical Engineering in Hagen.
First experiments with photography using a self-constructed “Laterna Magica.”
1904

Transfers to the Technical University, Berlin.
Sculpture classes at the Technical University and the Academy of Art, Berlin.
Makes regular visits to the Zoological Garden to sketch animals.

1914-18 Constructs planes for Zeppelin-Bau AG in Staaken (Brandenburg).
1918-21

Studies with animal sculptor August Gaul (1869-1921) at the Academy of Arts.
German sculptor Ernst Barlach (1870-1938) becomes his artistic role model.
1922-29 Works as a freelance sculptor in Berlin.
Takes photographs of animals at the zoo to use as studies for sculptures.
Photographs everyday life in Berlin.
1930-33 Stops working as a sculptor and begins career as a freelance photojournalist at
Ullstein-AG, then Europe’s largest publisher of newspapers and magazines.
1934-45 Works for private photo agencies after Ullstein-AG is closed down by the Nazis.
Does traveling reports on nature, daily life, and rural labor in Brandenburg,
Pomerania, and East Prussia.
1945-49 Bombs destroy part of his personal archive at Kaiserplatz 16 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf.
Working without a contract, takes hundreds of pictures of the destroyed city of
Berlin – his last significant project as a photographer.
1950-60 Withdraws from public life and takes only a few private photos of nudes in color.
1962 His 80th birthday is the occasion for the first retrospective of his work,
which is held in the Wilmersdorf town hall in Berlin.
1966 Dies of a stroke on December 26th in Berlin and is buried in his hometown.

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