Pictures of Krupp

"This book draws on a unique source: the thousands of photographs held in the Historical Archive of the Fried. Krupp company. For the period up to 1918 we are dealing with a collection of historical pictures of incomparable quality and importance. The photographs document the development of the Krupp Works from the beginning of the great phase of expansion in the 1860s to the decades when Krupp had become a global consortium. In addition to these, there is the extensive collection of pictures relating the Krupps' family life, recording the many private and public occasions when they received celebrated visitors and had themselves photographed. The Kaiser's visits to Essen, for example, have become famous."

"This book is much more than a picture book, and the value of the photographs extend far beyond their intended documentary purpose, or the photographic techniques involved. The expressive power of the subjects makes them a historical source of great value and poignancy, which is the reason that this book was written by social historians in collaboration with experts in photography."

"The book begins with the business and social history of this world-class company. The almost unbroken photographic documentation is due first and foremost to the great interest in photography of Alfred Krupp, the pioneer of the company. He had instigated the setting up of an in-house photographic department at the works which is appraised at length. Other chapters are devoted to the 'Faces of the workforce' and to photography as a source of the history of labour and technology, the lives of the 'Kruppians' outside the factory gates, and the relationship between the town of Essen and the Krupp Works, as recorded in the many buildings and transformations of the environment during urbanisation.

The role of Krupp in politics is also assessed, in so far as it is documented in photographic records."--Jacket.