Guide to the Stuttgart photographs , MSS 16727

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library

Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
URL: https://small.library.virginia.edu/

Rose Oliveira, Accesioning Archivist

Administrative Information

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is minimally processed and open for research.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16727, Stuttgart photographs, Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Transferred by Ann Burns, Metadata Librarian at Ivy Stacks in May 2021. These photographs were found in the Special Collections section of the Fine Arts Library without identifying information by Jessica Parker, the Image Collection Manager, in 2004. Attempts to find information about the albums and how they came to the library were unsuccessful.

Content Description

This collection contains two hard-shell portfolios containing sets of 32 before and after photographs of the impacts of the bombing raids on Stuttgart, Germany during the Second World War. The portfolios are embossed with a seal of the City of Stuttgart; the photographer and the creator of the portfolios are unidentified. The photographs taken prior to the bombing raids are undated but were likely captured prior to 1940. The comparison photographs, depicting the damage to the infrastructure and architecture of Stuttgart were captured in 1946. Each picture has a label in German identifying the location and notable buildings with the only difference being those depicting the bombing effects have a date. The photographs capture street views of various neighborhoods and landmarks such as museums, cathedrals, Nacht-wächterbrunnen auf Breuninger (the Nightwatchman fountain), and the Stuttgart capital square. Some photographs capture citizens in the streets, but the emphasis is on the architectural impacts. It is suspected that the portfolios may have been created in Stuttgart and sold as a "before and after" set showing the devastation after the Second World War. Also included is research and notes compiled in 2004 by Jessica Parker, the Image Collection Manager, while researching the collection. This folder primarily contains newspapers articles regarding the bombing and correspondence with faculty members.