Dresden

Not just the capital of Saxony, Dresden was also the capital of German photographic-related industries. In 1852 the famous photographer Hermann Krone moved to Dresden. Since 1865 photo paper makers built their factories in Dresden. From 1887 the city became the photography metropolis which it remained until 1990. Early camera makers there were:

• Richard Hüttig, (in 1887 his company moved from Berlin to Dresden)
• Wilhelm Franz Matthias (1888, from 1889 Ernemann & Matthias)
• Emil Wünsche (made cameras from 1889)
• Unger & Hoffmann (photo paper maker, started camera making in 1890)
• Carl Paul Förster (1891)
• Ferdinand Franz Meyer, (made the Lysioskop and Lysiostigmat lenses from 1894 and cameras from 1897)

Many further optical companies were founded, some of which later merged, and until WWII many influential camera constructions had been introduced by Dresden's industry.

the city at the river Elbe

Unfortunately Dresden became part of the postwar East German state which belonged to the block of the socialist countries around the Soviet Union. Several companies were split into a privately owned West German part and a state-owned factory in Dresden. Even under socialism the concentration of the capital in large company groups was common. During the 41 years of the existence of the East German state (1949-1990) nearly all photography related companies of Dresden became merged into the state-owned Pentacon group. This company became the first victim of the German reunification: the "Treuhand", the office that had to sell or to liquidate East German companies, simply closed Pentacon, then one of the biggest and most influential East German "combinates". Corruption? At least a huge lack of responsibility of the Treuhand officers who acted severely against their own priority which was to preserve valuable industries.

Sources

• 1.) Blumtritt, Herbert: "Die Geschichte der Dresdner Photo-Industrie", Stuttgart 2000
• 2.) www.dresdner-kameras.de