Werner Mantz 1901-1983

Schurmann & Kicken, Cologne

Acquired by the Gilman Paper Company from the above, 1978

Another print of this image:

Maria Morris Hambourg and Christopher Phillips, The New Vision: Photography Between the World Wars, Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989, in conjunction with the exhibition), p. 67

Werner Mantz garnered early acclaim for his work as a freelance architectural photographer in the late 1920s, working mostly on commission photographing notable buildings in Cologne, Germany. This photograph was taken by Mantz in 1928 during the “Pressa” trade fair. The Pressa was a media exhibition on the grandest scale, and was intended to celebrate the impact of newspapers and other forms of media communication. The Pressa not only brought international recognition to the city of Cologne, but also established it as a noteworthy media center, a reputation that endures even today.

The building shown in this image is the exhibition site for the Cologne newspaper, Kölnische Zeitung, designed by architects Wilhelm Riphahn and Caspar Maria Grod.  Riphahn was responsible for commissioning the greater part of Mantz’s early architectural photography in the city. These commissions were of great importance in establishing Mantz’s reputation and eventually encouraged commissions from other notable architects in the area.  The brightly illuminated central tower in the photograph offered here housed a printing press in which a portion of the Cologne Newspaper was printed during the Pressa; it was a particularly popular demonstration among visitors to the trade fair.

Another print of this image is in the Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.