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owner and mayor. In his younger years he undertook
several educational journeys, including both France and
Italy, spending two years in Paris. He even served as an
apprentice at the Sèvres porcellain factory, founding his
own short-lived factory in Deutz on his return.
After fi rst moving the company, which he called
Friedrich Bruckmann Publishers, to Stuttgart in 1861,
Bruckmann fi nally settled it in Munich in 1863. In
1864 a photographic institute and printing workshop
were added. This setup was unique to the Bruckmann
Verlag at the time, permitting Bruckmann to realise
his products completely and autonomously within his
own facilities.
His fi rst success as a publisher came in the fi rst half
of the 1860s with a photographic portfolio of Goethe’s
Frauengestalten, the photographs reproducing drawings
by the director of the Munich Academy of Arts Wilhelm
Kaulbach. Kaulbach’s so called Goethe-Galerie, draw-
ings of female characters found in Goethe’s fi ction,
was reproduced in large-size photographs by Josef
Albert. Bruckmann also issued this work in different
techniques, formats and prices (a sales strategy that
would become typical for him) and tried to launch a
Schiller- and Shakespeare-Galerie as well.
To use the enhancement of orthochromatic material
by the photographer Eugen Albert, the son of Josef Al-
bert, the Photographische Union [Photographic Union]
was created in 1884 as a photographic institute, sepa-
rate from the Bruckmann Verlag although it remained
under its ownership. The institute issued photographic
reproductions of contemporary 19th century art, mainly
paintings, in different formats.
Around 1900 the fi rm consisted of a printing work-
shop, engraving manufactory, another printing room for
collotype and photogravure, photographic laboratories
and studios. From its base in Munich, the publishing
house became renowned, with branches opening in
Vienna, Berlin, Paris, London and New York by 1868.
Bruckmann was also innovative in his utilization of new
means of advertising. He maintained good relationships
with bookstores in order to have his products presented
in the best and most effective way. The company sent
out leafl ets, colored posters and multilingual catalogues
to promote its books.
The Bruckmann Verlag soon became famous for
its high-quality reproductions produced to the newest
technical standards. Friedrich Bruckmann adopted
a variety of new developments in photomechanical
printing and developed them further. He took up the
Woodburytype in 1869, in 1875 the more reliable and
effi cient collotype and in 1882 the printing offi ce ac-
quired the new process of photogravure as well as the
Autotype process. The fi rm was the fi rst German one
to apply a rapid collotype in 1885, a rotogravure press
in 1900, and in 1890 they began to produce some of the
fi rst multi-color prints by multiple plate photogravure.
By advancing the use of photomechanical reproduction,
Bruckmann was able to supply a larger quantity of im-
ages faster, and to satisfy the wider public demand for
reasonably priced art prints.
By this contribution, Bruckmann pioneered modern
German fi ne art publishing. Munich, where he evolved
his company, was at the turn of the century a center for
art publishers and booksellers as well as reproduction
and printing. The Bruckmann Verlag published mostly
within the archaeological and art sector, focussing
on antique art, the Renaissance and the 19th century,
thereby particularly enhancing artists with a high repu-
tation. It published costly and elaborate deluxe editions
for the well-equipped bourgeoisie as well as in smaller,
cheaper formats intended for broader consumption. The
company also produced standard works in art history,
monographs of famous artists, as well as large and ex-
pensive picture-atlases and documentation for scholarly
use. These latter were made possible by the technical
developments encouraged within the company. It spe-
cialised in reproducing complete museum and private
collections as well as publishing portrait series and
portfolios of famous paintings and sculptures, which
were usually image collections with minimal text.
One of Bruckmann’s most important contributions
was the fi rst illustrated German art journal, begun in
1885, the Kunst für Alle [Art for All] which concen-
trated on contemporary art. It was one of the most
infl uential and long-running publication at the time
since it addressed a wide non-specialist public both
in its arrangement and its low price. The journal in-
corporated all genres but focused on paintings, and,
since illustrations played a conspicuous role in it,
many new methods of photomechanicalprinting were
used. Thematically, it was to a large extent restricted
to national realistic art—being an organ of the middle
class—and was much in favor of the Impressionists. As
a consequence, it excluded other avantgarde art forms
almost completely. From 1891 to 1899 the journal had
a division called Der Amateurphotograph [The Ama-
teur Photographer] edited by Adolf Miethe which dealt
with technical questions and the use of photographs for
reproductions. In 1899 Kunst für Alle was combined
with the Dekorative Kunst [Decorative Art] (founded
in 1897 for international applied arts) under the name
Die Kunst [The Art] under which name it was issued
until 1944, at which time it was renamed Die Kunst
und das schöne Heim [Art and Beautiful Home] and
continued until 1984.
In 1883 Bruckmann Verlag was transformed into a
private limited company, run by Bruckmann’s two sons,
Alphons (1855–1945) and Hugo (1863–1941), who
had joined the fi rm in 1870 and 1881 respectively. In
1883 it was renamed Verlagsanstalt für Kunst und Wis-