Herbert Wendling

During the Second World War, he worked for BMW for around five years, initially as an inspector for aircraft engines, and was later taken on as a photographer. This was followed by further employment as a factory photographer at the Hurt company.

After the end of the war, he photographed for the Bavarian State Ministry from September 1946 as part of the identification card campaign and travelled to communities throughout Bavaria to take photographs. Without official training as a photographer and without the means for professional camera equipment, it was only this employment that enabled him to afford all the materials he wanted for his photographic work. At the end of the 1940s, he was authorised by the Chamber of Crafts to use the professional title ‘photographer’. From the 1950s onwards, Herbert Wendling offered various services related to photography, e.g. coloured semi-enamel plates, suitable as inserts for brooches, medallions or tie pins. He also earned an income as a portrait photographer and his photographs are available as negatives, slides, paper prints or on film. The majority of the photos have now been digitised and are gradually being processed and added to the archive collection.

Through his son-in-law, who was a civilian employee of the US Army, he was able to establish good contacts with the American GIs, who were happy to have their photos taken by him; as a thank you, he received a beautiful ham from one of the Americans - unfortunately, it was covered in sugar crust and inedible for German palates. Herbert Wendling also reproduced old photos of fallen soldiers from the Second World War, often for the memorial plaques of Bavarian communities. He was one of the first to take photographs in colour, soon mainly in numerous schools (class photos).

In addition to his forays through Munich - on foot or by bike - Herbert Wendling often travelled through the countryside with his wife on his motorbike, and later with his Goggomobil. If a particular subject caught his eye, he would stop in the middle of the motorway, pull out his camera and tripod and take a few shots of the landscape. In his private life, he was very interested in stereo photography and even produced a few animated films.

In addition to his forays through Munich - on foot or by bike - Herbert Wendling often travelled through the countryside with his wife on his motorbike, and later with his Goggomobil. If a particular subject caught his eye, he would stop in the middle of the motorway, pull out his camera and tripod and take a few shots of the landscape. In his private life, he was very interested in stereo photography and even produced a few animated films.

Frequent changes of residence during the Second World War took the still young family to Trudering and probably also to Bogenhausen, where one of Herbert Wendling's daughters attended the Gebeleschule on Herkomerplatz for a while. Their last home was at Aßlinger Straße 8 in Ramersdorf.

Over the course of his working life, Herbert Wendling examined many of his photographs only as film in the darkroom, without ever developing them. In addition to the shortage of materials during the war and post-war years, this was also due to his limited financial resources throughout his life. With eleven children, the family led a simple and deprived life. Feeding a family of this size was not easy for a photographer throughout his life.

The city and its streets were one of Herbert Wendling's favourite subjects. On his tours through Munich's neighbourhoods, he photographed a wide variety of buildings, squares, parks and the life that took place there. This resulted in snapshots of the city in the pre-war and post-war periods up to the end of the 1960s. Taken together, they show the fascinating transformation of Munich over the decades. It also becomes clear that the ‘good old days’ often bear this name unjustly: Herbert Wendling's pictures of the Au, for example, show the poorest conditions; the houses appear run-down, their inhabitants do their laundry in the Auermühlbach.

Virtually no information has survived that tells us exactly when the photographs were taken, hardly any information about the exact locations or other helpful notes. If Herbert Wendling noted anything about a picture, it was usually only information about the camera, lens and exposure time. The memories that his photographs evoke in visitors to today's exhibitions are therefore of particular interest. They are often stories about their family and childhood, which older viewers recall with nostalgia, e.g. the unsupervised and free play on the rubble plots after the war; more than just an ‘adventure playground’ for the children and young people of the time, and not just because of the scattered ammunition remnants. Some talk about pubs on the other side of the street where they went to get beer for their father, about the street where their aunt lived, where their first flat was or where they played as children, about the grocer on the corner who always gave away sweets, about their grandfather and uncle who lived and worked in one of the hostels in the Au. Regardless of the age of the observer, however, there is a vague feeling that Munich - despite the frequently documented sparseness of everyday life in the city - has not taken the path to the better in its development. The goal of the car-friendly city from the post-war years and the modern surrender of many aspects of urban planning to investors, including the much-mentioned gentrification associated with it, are painfully perceived and lamented by a majority. Only the extensive construction measures for the 1972 Olympic Games are still viewed favourably.

Source: Illustrated book ‘Munich 1930 - 1960’, published in 2020 by Volk Verlag Munich