Wir überwinden Grenzen

Theodor Niehues

* 1896 in Münster; † 1981 in Freiburg; trained photographer and moulangeur

As Vogelbacher's successor, the trained photographer Theodor Niehues (1896-1981) produced the last Freiburg moulages from 1934 to 1957. From 1957 to 1968, Niehues worked exclusively as a photographer at the clinic. At the beginning of the 1960s, he was even entrusted with the task of sorting out damaged and "duplicate" moulages! Of the original 1,200 copies, 822 still exist today.

e.g. from www.moulagen.de/sammlungen/deutschland/freiburg/

The first moulages arrived at the Münster Dermatology Clinic with Alfred Stühmer, the first director of the newly founded dermatology department in 1925. He probably brought them with him from Breslau and Freiburg, where he had worked as an assistant in 1913 and 1919 respectively. Moulages and mouleurs had long existed at both clinics. Breslau was the leader in Germany with the mouleur Alfons Kröner. It is no longer possible to reconstruct how extensive the original Münster collection was. It is documented that A. Stühmer, who became a decisive promoter of moulage art in the 1950s, complained about the lack of storage space for the moulages (Krutmann 1987). He fought for a long time for the appointment of a moulage artist at the clinic, but this was never approved.

Instead, he was able to get the Münster photographer Theodor Niehues interested in wax painting.

In 1934, Stühmer received an appointment at the Freiburg clinic. As there was an extensive collection in Freiburg, it can be assumed that he left his moulages at the Münster clinic. Niehues also moved with him to Freiburg, where he succeeded Otto Vogelbacher. At the insistence of A. Stühmers, Vogelbacher, one of the most renowned moulage artists of the time, had previously introduced Niehues to his technique without payment. This procedure was a major exception, as the mouleurs usually kept their "recipes" secret or passed them on for a high fee (usually an annual salary). The Freiburg collection still contains 106 moulages by Niehues, the oldest of which is dated fall 1934 (Barlag 1992).

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