4060 - Koppmann, Georg

Koppmann, Georg Views of Hamburg. 1881–84. 12 large-format albumen prints, mounted on board. Each approx. 23.5 x 31.7 cm (mounts approx. 32 x 40 cm). Each printed below the image: “Photographie von G. Koppmann & Co., Hamburg,” with a German title; dated on the print 1881, 1883, or 1884. Georg Koppmann was one of Hamburg’s foremost documentary photographers and documented the city’s transformation into a modern port on behalf of the municipal building authorities. This exceptional collection focuses on the old waterfront district around Bei den Mühren, Kannegiesserort, and St. Catherine’s Church: narrow streets, half-timbered houses, crowded quays, and the Binnenhafen are captured with remarkable clarity. Taken shortly before the extensive demolition and redevelopment of the Speicherstadt, these views preserve a substantial part of old Hamburg that has since disappeared. – Mounts with scattered foxing and soiling, occasional handling creases, edge wear, and small corner losses; prints with some light surface scuffing and isolated small abrasions in the image areas, otherwise in good overall condition. Lit.: Will Keller. Hamburg in Early Photographs, 1848–1888: The Bokelberg Collection. Hamburg: Verlag der Sammlung Bokelberg, 1980.