414 - Franz Roth (1911–1943)

Franz Roth (1911–1943) Berlin, Zeughausmuseum Alte Nikolaikirche, 9 photographs, 1938, vintage prints View of the church—which was taken over by the state from the Protestant Church in 1938—and its design and interior layout as a new museum for the self-promotion of the National Socialist movement, propagandistically equipped with flags and paraphernalia The role of photographer Franz Roth—formerly a photojournalist for the American news agency Associated Press in Vienna—has recently been critically reevaluated, in part due to the role he assumed within the military organization and his work for the Ministry of Propaganda beginning in 1937 This representative series of images can be understood as the photographer’s attempt to position himself within the Nazi regime—a position he subsequently held The large-format photographs, mounted on textured cardboard and each signed in pencil with the location “Magdeburg”: In 1939, the Magdeburg printing house Erich Müller published the essay by (Reich Minister of Labor) Franz Seidte, “Das Zeughaus, Alte Nikolaikirche, in seiner neuen Gestaltung und Bedeutung” Photographs by Franz Roth are known only in isolated instances; no signed photographs are known to exist to date Approx. 38:28 (image dimensions) and 61.5:49.5 (cardboard mounts) cm