Bertha Zillessen
Bertha Zillessen (17 October 1872 – 13 January 1936) was a German painter and photographer. She was the first professional photographer in Bautzen.
Bertha Zillessen
Bertha Zillessen (1872-1936) · Public domain
- Name
- Bertha Zillessen
- Born
- 17 October 1872
- Birthplace
- Orsoy, German Empire
- Died
- 13 January 1936
- Place of death
- Bautzen, Germany
- Known for
- Photography, painting
- Nationality
- Germany.
- Occupation
- painter and photographer.
- Languages
- German.
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Bertha Zillessen (17 October 1872 – 13 January 1936) was a German painter and photographer. She was the first professional photographer in Bautzen.
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wikidata · Q102680 · wikipedia · Bertha Zillessen
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Bertha Zillessen • Born — 17 October 1872 • Birthplace — Orsoy, German Empire • Died — 13 January 1936 • Place of death — Bautzen, Germany • Partner — Margarethe Karow • Known for — Photography, painting • Illustration — commercial postcard of Schloss Neusorge in the 1920's
Biography
Biography
Zillessen was born on 17 October 1872, in Orsoy, Germant. As a young woman, she moved to Witten and there she began learning about photography. She continued her training in Berlin and Düsseldorf where she studied with Erwin Quedenfeldt. Around 1908 she moved to Bautzen with her partner, Margarethe Karow, and the pair start a photography studio They began the commercial enterprise with portrait photography. Zillessen eventually turned to landscape photography and she became a successful postcard photographer. Her copper gravure images were published by Deutschen Heimatbilder and Saxon Heimatschutzverein. Zillessen is considered to be the first professional photographer in Bautzen. Zillessen died on 13 January 1936, aged 63, in Bautzen. In 2019, the Museum Bautzen held a retrospective of her work.
Identity
Identity
Bertha Zillessen is recorded with the occupation photographer. Recorded as painter and photographer.
Bertha Zillessen - Oberlausitzer farmstead. Without a place, 1920
Bertha Zillessen
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1872
Bertha Zillessen was born on 17 October 1872.
1936
Bertha Zillessen died on 13 January 1936.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Rheydt.
Birth place
Bautzen.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q102680: Bertha Zillessen
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Bertha Zillessen”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Citations
References
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authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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