15 June 2021 press release

Eric Schaal’s photographic estate now accessible world-wide in digital format // The German Exile Archive 1933–1945 provides access to portrait photos of Thomas Mann and Stefan Zweig

The German Exile Archive 1933–1945 at the German National Library has catalogued and digitised the portrait photographs shot by Eric Schaal. With the permission of Weidle Verlag, Bonn, which holds the rights to Eric Schaal’s work, these are now accessible world-wide via the portal of the German National Library.

Schaal’s estate is one of the most frequently sought-after in the archive’s holdings. Schaal portrayed 229 public figures in nearly 2,500 photographs, including many big names who – like himself – had emigrated from the National Socialist sphere of influence. Eric Schaal had a range of interests and had enjoyed a comprehensive education that granted him access to the major figures in the world of art, culture and science of his era. There are many famous names among his portrait subjects: Vicki Baum, Tania Blixen, Charlie Chaplin, Salvador Dalí, Alfred Döblin, Albert Einstein, Lion Feuchtwanger, Oskar Maria Graf, Paul Hindemith, Aldous Huxley, Oskar Kokoschka, Sinclair Lewis, Sergei Rachmaninow, Elisabeth Rethberg, Max Schmeling, Arnold Schönberg, Igor Strawinsky, Erika Stiedry-Wagner, Bruno Walter, Thornton Wilder and Ernst Toller.

Eric Schaal let his subjects decide how they wished to be portrayed. He often photographed his models in their working environment, their studio, at their desk or in the concert hall. This resulted in unique portraits. 97 photographs feature a hand-written dedication by the respective subject. “Mr. Eric Schaal, my best portraitist”, wrote Thomas Mann on one of his photos, while Stefan Zweig commented briefly but to the point: “The grateful object with kind regards Stefan Zweig”. Walter Mehring thanked Eric Schaal “for the photographic portrait that depicts me to the life – yet also flatters me by giving me the appearance that I aspire to – it will serve as my inspiration Yours Walter Mehring”. Arnold Schönberg was keen to receive his prints: “To Mr. Eric Schaal, for not only making this picture, but also promising to send me copies. I hope this promise will be as good as this picture. Arnold Schönberg.”

Schaal emigrated to the United States in 1936, had completed commercial training, but had been passionate about photography since his youth. It was only in the USA that he turned his hobby into his profession. In 1937, he began by working for Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “Pix” agency, before taking photographs for “Time” and “Life” magazine from 1941 onwards. His work was featured on the front cover several times. His main subject area was art photography, and he portrayed artists and photographed art collections, individual works of art and exhibitions. Eric Schaal settled in Switzerland in 1967; he died in Männedorf near Zurich in 1994. Since 2003, Eric Schaal’s photographic legacy has been held in the German Exile Archive 1933–1945 at the German National Library.

Eric Schaal’s portrait photographs
Digital copies available online in the catalogue of the German National Library

Background

The task of the German National Library’s German Exile Archive 1933–1945 is to collect publications and documents relating to German-language exile during the Nazi era. The publications include all books and brochures in the fields of literature, politics, science and Jewish emigration written by German-speaking emigrants abroad between 1933 and 1950 along with the magazines they published. The documents include personal legacies from German-speaking emigrants in all fields and professions, archives of exile organisations and individual autographs.

Since March 2018, selected exhibits from the German Exile Archive's own collection have been on display in the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony” in Frankfurt am Main. In addition, the German Exile Archive manages the network project “Arts in Exile”. The German Exile Archive’s events and temporary exhibitions take a closer look at other themes and thus draw parallels between historic exile and current phenomena.

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Press image material

Images for editorial use; Press image material is only available in German. All images: German Exile Archive 1933-1945 of the German National Library, Eric Schaal's estate, EB 2003/051, © Weidle-Verlag, Bonn