In the footsteps of Kurt Hielscher
During the First World War, Spain was neutral. On a study trip to Spain, when the war broke out, Kurt Hielscher got stuck. He stayed in Spain during the whole war and decided to make the best of it by traveling around and making a lot of photos that eventually turned into his book with a selection of 304 photos in it published in 1922. This book and his lectures and exhibitions made him famous, and he received invitations from other European countries to make a similar book. During the Second World War, his negatives were destroyed due to Leipzig's bombings by the allied forces. After the war, his work fell into oblivion.
As a student of Eastern European Studies, I found an old photobook in a second-hand bookstore in Amsterdam. It was from German photographer Kurt Hielscher (1881-1948). In it were 192 stunning photos of 1926 Yugoslavia in copper deep print, which looks amazing, almost like 3D shining like gold. It was quite expensive, and therefore I decided to do something with it. What? That was obvious: try to rephotograph the photos in it. One thing led to another, and now I have all Kurt Hielscher’s photobooks of several European countries such as Spain, Germany, and Italy and the ambition to make them all.
Casper Molenaar
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Yugoslavia 1926 - Present
Prizren
Perast
Trogir
Sarajevo*
Nomenj*
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[*Yugoslavia 1926 - Present - In the footsteps of Kurt Hielscher on Facebook]












