walter schulze-mittendorff bio 01
Walter Schulze-Mittendorff is born on January 31, 1893, in Berlin-Tiergarten, as the second of three sons. Three months later he is christened with the names of Walter Georg Herrmann Schulze in the Evangelische Zwölf-Apostel-Kirche where, 14 years later, he is also confirmed.
At the dawn of the 20th century he is born into times of turmoil and transition.
Walter Schulze-Mittendorff, right,
with Paul Herrmann,
his older brother of three years, 1896
Walter Schulze-Mittendorff´s father, Georg Paul Herrmann Schulze, is a watchmaker; together with his co-partner he owns a watch and clock shop. When their common business breaks up, the father finds employment as foreman in a precision engineering company. The family moves to Habsburgerstraße in Berlin-Schöneberg.
Oil lamps are still in use as the main lightsource inside the house, whereas gas lamps light up the streets already; with electricity being tested for a source of light in general.
Horse-drawn carriages are still out on the streets, while the first automobile factories are about to be built. And while the general belief in authority is still prevalent in the Wilhelmine imperial empire, Germany already has a socialist labour party. While the scientific efforts to analyse the human psyche are barely under way, already an overshooting nationalism is forming which will eventually lead to the First World War. And in the arts, the meaning of painting and sculpture in portrait-making gives way to photographic prints. The continuing process of these transitions and upheavals in society will have its influence on Walter Schulze-Mittendorff's life.
His father Georg Schulze
