About Defner Photo Verlag seit 1919

tale It began with passion. Passion was the driving force behind Adalbert Defner, the grandfather of the current publishing house owner Thomas. His 9 x 12 cm Stegemann large format camera made of wood was Dr. Adalbert Defner's constant companion. His passion for photography also brought him into contact with the recognized promoter of art photography Heinrich Kühn. In cooperation with the company Rodenstock, Munich, the two photo artists researched the “Imagon” soft-focus lens, a method of image processing in the pre-digital age. In 1925 Defner moved to Tyrol, where he first opened a branch in Innsbruck, Museumstraße 37 to the factory in Wernigerrode and in 1929 opened the workshop for photographic art in Igls near Innsbruck. It was here that the publishing house experienced its heyday. In the peak year of 1932, more than 300,000 picture postcards were produced by hand and a further hundreds of thousands of 9 x 12 cm photo prints that were glued onto tickets. 18 people were employed, often from 8:00 in the morning to 10:00 in the evening. In 1978, Thomas Defner began training as a photographer at the publishing house and took over the business run by parents Ruth and Karl in 1992. In 1992, they switched from the original photochemical black and white production to duplex printing. According to plans by architect Clemens Bortolotti, the shop in Igls near Innsbruck has a new attractive case. Thomas Defner runs Photo Verlag together with his wife GerlindeRead their story