Scope and Content Note
The Königliche Preussische Messbildanstalt (Royal Prussian Photogrammetric Institute) created these architectural photographs as part of an early historic preservation program to document exteriors and interiors of cathedrals and churches, castles and palaces, town halls and half-timbered buildings, and other cultural heritage sites as they appeared around 1900. The buildings are primarily in Germany, with approximately 100 views taken in Greece, Turkey, Lebanon, France, Poland, and Russia. Institute director Albrecht Meydenbauer developed the special camera and precise measurement system used to create these sharply focused, large-format, photogrammetry (measurement) images in order to provide for the study and restoration of buildings.
The Prints and Photographs Division selected 730 photographic prints from the thousands of photogrammetric images offered for sale by the Messbildanstalt. The selection represents an estimated 225 buildings located in 90 cities and towns in Germany (predominantly in the Kingdom of Prussia) as well as 41 sites in Greece; Constantinople, Turkey (now Istanbul); and Baalbek, Syria (now Lebanon). Close to 50% of the photographs show cathedrals and churches, 15% show castles and palaces, and 10% show ancient ruin sites in Greece and Baalbek. The remaining images depict town halls and half-timbered buildings, often with shops, among other structures. In addition to exterior views, there are interiors and details of Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, and other architecture styles. People are visible in a few photos, primarily looking out of windows at the photographer. Street-level views that show multiple buildings are available for Berlin, Danzig, Duderstadt, Fritzlar, Görlitz, Halberstadt, and Wernigerode. Since this collection spans the 1880s to early 1910s, it documents a number of buildings destroyed in World War II, such as the Barfüsserkirche. Place names represent pre-World War I designations in the Kingdom of Prussia, and the finding aid provides current names for cities and countries, including Poland and Russia.
The sharply detailed, large format, prints are approximately 16 x 16 inches and mounted on board. Their clear focus precisely documents architectural elements. The prints were made from large format glass photographic negatives of the same size, created with a special camera that used standardized focal lengths and was placed at measured distances from the building being documented. The accuracy of the measurements made it possible to produce architectural drawings from which a building could be reconstructed if it were damaged. For images of the camera and detailed description of the technique, see articles in the bibliography.
For more information about photographs in this collection, refer to the Published Indexes. Each photograph in the collection has a Messbildanstalt index number that identifies the site and the image. (Some of these numbers repeat, even though the photo is different.) The index numbers below 900 correspond to entries in the published indexes from 1906 and 1907. The higher numbers are not in these catalogs. To find the year of a photo numbered below 900, use the Alphabetisches Verzeichnis der im Etatsjahre 1907 hinzugekommenen Messbildaufnahmen, (LOT 15198, no. 735) which also states the total quantity of views for each site. To find the original title, use the Alphabetisches Verzeichnis der Grossbilder von Messbild-Aufnahmen (1906) (LOT 15198, no. 734). Photographs of Greece are predominately listed in Griechenland enthaltend eine Auswahl von 443 Bildern (1912) (LOT 15198, no. 736).