{{short description|German artist (1872–1936)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Bertha Zillessen | image = Photo of Bertha Zillessen.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1872|10|17|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Orsoy, Germany]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1936|1|13|1872|10|17|df=y}} | death_place = [[Bautzen]], Germany | education = | movement = | patrons = | awards = | spouse = | website = | partner = Margarethe Karow | known_for = Photography, painting }} [[File:Neusorge1920s.jpg|thumb|350px|commercial postcard of ''Schloss Neusorge in the 1920's'']] '''Bertha Zillessen''' (17 October 1872 – 13 January 1936) was a German painter and photographer.<ref name="Deutsche Biographie">{{cite web |title=Zillessen, Bertha |url=https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/pnd127849610.html |website=Deutsche Biographie |accessdate=15 August 2020 |language=de}}</ref> She was the first professional photographer in [[Bautzen]].
==Biography== Zillessen was born on 17 October 1872, in [[Orsoy, Germany|Orsoy, Germant]].<ref name="Jüdisches Museum">{{cite web |title=Bertha Zillessen |url=http://objekte.jmberlin.de/person/jmb-pers-504039;jsessionid=A1DE9AF822414A |website=Jüdisches Museum Berlin |accessdate=15 August 2020}}</ref> As a young woman, she moved to [[Witten]] and there she began learning about photography. She continued her training in [[Berlin]] and [[Düsseldorf]] where she studied with Erwin Quedenfeldt. Around 1908 she moved to [[Bautzen]] with her partner, Margarethe Karow, and the pair start a photography studio They began the commercial enterprise with portrait photography. Zillessen eventually turned to landscape photography and she became a successful postcard photographer.<ref name="Saechsische.de">{{cite web |title=Die Frau hinter der Kamera |url=https://www.saechsische.de/plus/die-frau-hinter-der-kamera-5024696.html |website=Saechsische.de |accessdate=15 August 2020 |language=de}}</ref> Her copper [[gravure]] images were published by ''Deutschen Heimatbilder'' and ''Saxon Heimatschutzverein''.<ref name="Museum Bautzen">{{cite web |title=Bertha Zillessen (1872–1936) – Fotografische Entdeckungen |url=https://www.museum-bautzen.de/veranstaltungen/ausstellungen/rueckblick/bertha-zillessen/ |website=Museum Bautzen |accessdate=15 August 2020}}</ref> Zillessen is considered to be the first professional photographer in [[Bautzen]].<ref name="Saechsische.de"/>
Zillessen died on 13 January 1936, aged 63, in Bautzen.<ref name="Jüdisches Museum"/> In 2019, the Museum Bautzen held a retrospective of her work.<ref name="Museum Bautzen"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Bertha Zillessen}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Zillessen, Bertha}} [[Category:1872 births]] [[Category:1936 deaths]] [[Category:People from Mönchengladbach]] [[Category:20th-century German women photographers]] [[Category:20th-century German photographers]]