Gunnar Lundh and his Berlin photos

Gunnar Herbert Lundh (1898-1960) was a Swedish photographer. In 1925 he went to Berlin, where he worked making portraits for Wertheims department store. He bequeathed about 300.000 well classified photographs to Nordiska Museet in Stockholm.

In that collection, there are some pictures from 1925 and another batch from 1933. One of the pictures can be precisely dated to February 11th 1933. How ? Because the newspaper in the seller’s hands, "Die Welt amAbend", has as its main title "Die Schreckensnacht von Neunkirchen". Which refers to a gas explosion in the town of Neunkirchen, in the Sarre, an accident which occurred February 10th 1933.

That day, Hitler had been in power for 10 days. The Nazi dictatorship hadn’t yet begun in earnest, that’s why a Communist paper like "Welt am Abend" could still be published. Still, only some week later, it was closed by the Gestapo, because of a critical article. 

Many more photographs by Gunnar Lundh, here

Selling "Welt am Abend"