Würzburg from 1860: In a new book, Alexander Kraus presents photographs that show Würzburg a century and a half ago. Some of what you see is hard to believe.
Is that supposed to be Schönbornstrasse? Tram tracks meander between cobblestones through a narrow winding alley. The shop windows are barricaded. A man stands alone. If he wants to buy something, he won’t find anything in these stores.
What a difference to today: In addition to the Kaufhof, there are dozens of shops on Schönbornstrasse that entice you to shop, and their displays are brightly lit even at night. It’s only lonely here in the early morning hours.
Würzburg’s Schönbornstraße in 1891. At that time it was called Sandgasse and had not yet been widened. Photo: Franz Albert
Admittedly, the picture from the book “Würzburg 1860-1900” with rare photographs from the Alexander Kraus collection shows Sandgasse, which was later called Schönbornstrasse. It was recorded in 1891. At that time the horse tram was new and the Sandgasse was narrow. However, it was not to remain so for long. In the mid-1890s the houses were demolished and the street widened. New buildings were built, and in 1900 the horse-drawn tram was converted into an electric tram. The Sandgasse, which led from Dominikanerplatz to the Marktplatz, was henceforth called Schönbornstraße. It definitely wasn’t an alley anymore.
The Kürschnerhof in 1891 with the Neumünster and the old district court. A passage led to Domstraße, which was also used by the horse-drawn tram. Photo: Franz Albert
Ludwigstrasse in 1898. On the right is the former Ludwigsbahnhof, which only served its intended purpose from 1854 to 1864 and was then replaced by the Hauptbahnhof. After that, its large departure and arrival hall was, among other things, an exhibition and event space. Today the Mainfranken Theater is located here. Photo: Otto Patzig
The 144-page book with around 70 historical photos, expertly explained by Alexander Kraus, is a treasure chest with surprising, sometimes confusing insights. The Kürschnerhof, for example, used to live up to its name and really presented itself as a courtyard, separated from Domstraße by the magnificent old district court. In a photo, also from 1891, the track of the horse-drawn tram leads through an archway to Domstraße. The district court was demolished in 1894; since then, the train has been running on two tracks around the curve.
The back of the Juliusspital. In 1882, when the photo was taken, the university’s botanical gardens were still on the site. Photo: Sophus Williams
The view of the back of the Juliusspital, recorded in 1882, is also fascinating. The paths through the carefully tended garden and the greenhouses are irritating – but only until you realize that the university’s botanical garden was located here at the time.
Barbarossaplatz was terraced in 1869. Photo: Jean Gattineau
And so it goes on and on: One of the oldest photos, taken in 1869, shows the upper Juliuspromenade and Barbarossaplatz with horse and carts. The Barbarossaplatz, today a uniform area, was terraced back then.
View of the Haug Abbey Church from the city fortifications on today’s Haugerring, photographed in the 1870s. The tall, slender structure on the left is a water tower. Photo: Franz Albert
The photos that the collector Alexander Kraus handed over to the Würzburg City Archive in 2018, along with many others from his inventory, he had acquired over the years, some from an antiquarian bookshop near Paris. In numerous cases, the purchase was preceded by lengthy price negotiations.
View from the station forecourt onto Kaiserstraße in 1898. On the left is the representative palace of the Buchner construction company, which largely survived March 16, 1945, but was demolished in the early 1970s in favor of the fashion house C&A. Photo: Alexander Kraus Collection
The images provide insights into the history of photography. In the second half of the 19th century, photographers left their studios and set about documenting their surroundings with their unwieldy cameras. In view of the long exposure times and the high cost of the equipment, spontaneous snapshots were impossible – another reason why the historical city views radiate calm and tranquility.
Timber yard and crane bastion from the Old Main Bridge. The picture from 1885 shows the wave pool in the foreground on the right, one of the Würzburg swimming pools moored in the Main. Behind lie ships laden with wood; The Kärrner lived in the nearby Kärrnergasse, the carters who transported the wood with their carts. Photo: Franz Albert
As far as the photographers are known, most of the pictures were taken by Franz Albert and Otto Patzig from Würzburg and Sophus Williams from Berlin. Little is known about Albert, except that he had his studio on Sanderglacisstraße.
In 1891, the view goes east from Augustinerstraße to Neubaustraße with the Neubaukirche. The corner building, in which Georg Pankratius Moritz ran his “colonial goods store” at the time, was later demolished in order to widen the street to Johanniterplatz and Sanderstrasse. Photo: Franz Albert
Otto Patzig was not only a photographer but also a painter; his studio was located on the Main. Patzig, who died in 1885, headed the art school in Würzburg from 1860. The fact that he not only painted portraits but also captured fascinating cityscapes in photographs shows his openness to the new technology.
The picture from the early 1870s shows the free-flowing and still unpaved Main from the Steinberg. The Mainwiesen and the Talavera served as flood plains, the old port was only built from 1875, the Luitpold Bridge, now called Friedensbrücke, from 1886. Photo: Otto Patzig
Sophus Williams was actually called Sophus Vilhelm Schou and came from Copenhagen. After a stay in London, he settled in Berlin and worked as a photographer himself, but together with a partner he also published the photographs of others. In 1873 the company took part in the World Exhibition in Vienna.
Jean Gattineau, to whom we owe the photo of the terraced Barbarossaplatz from 1869, also worked in Würzburg. Gattineau evidently had a good name; In any case, as early as 1856 the “Würzburger Anzeiger” praised the “loyalty, purity and care in the execution” of his pictures. On the back he describes himself as the ducal Saxon court photographer with a studio in Herrengasse, today’s Herrnstrasse, “visit the episcopal palace”.
Domstrasse with cathedral in the 1880s. Photo: Franz Albert
Gattineau undoubtedly combined the title and address with the intention of gaining more respect for himself and his photos. That may have been necessary at the time. Today, photography has long been established as an independent art genre that should be taken seriously.
The book: Alexander Kraus, Würzburg 1860-1900. Rare photographs from the Alexander Kraus Collection, (from the history of the city and university of Würzburg, Volume 10), AKAMEDON-Verlag Pfaffenhofen 2023, 144 pages, EUR 29.90 (to be published on May 13).
The exhibition: 30 large-format prints from the book can be seen in the reading café of the Würzburg City Library on the market square until June 30th. Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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