When will the exhibition open?

The exhibition opening will take place on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 12 PM in the foyer of the Ludwig Erhard Center.

How long is the exhibition open on the opening day?

On October 13, 2026, the exhibition will be accessible from 9 AM to 6 PM.

What is the admission fee?

Admission to the exhibition is free.

Is the Ludwig Erhard Center wheelchair accessible?

Yes, the Ludwig Erhard Center is accessible for visitors in wheelchairs and has a wheelchair-accessible restroom.

What does the exhibition show?

The exhibition features 279 images from the photo album of the Fürth soldier Wilhelm Hecht, including previously unknown photographs of Max Erhard, Ludwig Erhard's brother who fell in World War I.

Where is the exhibition taking place?

The exhibition takes place in the foyer of the Ludwig Erhard Center, Ludwig-Erhard-Straße 6, 90762 Fürth.

With the Camera in World War I

Name: Photo Exhibition With the Camera in World War I
Start: 2026-10-13T12:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-13T18:00:00+02:00
Location: Ludwig Erhard Zentrum

A Private View of World War I: The Photo Album of Wilhelm Hecht

What did World War I look like from the perspective of a young soldier from Fürth? The foyer exhibition With the Camera in World War I. The Photo Album of Wilhelm Hecht at the Ludwig Erhard Center presents an extraordinary photographic time document with 279 images. The exhibition opening on October 13, 2026, provides access to a personal visual narrative that connects war, daily life, and memory.

Photography Between Frontline Life and Personal Memory

Wilhelm Hecht arrived at the Western Front as a young soldier in 1914 and captured scenes from his immediate surroundings. His photographs show comrades, moments of respite, and incidents behind the lines. Destroyed churches, burnt-out tanks, and soldier cemeteries appear somewhat incidentally – it is precisely this understated visual language that gives the images their lasting impact.

279 Images as a Visual Time Document

The photo album makes visible how private amateur photography shapes historical experience. The images document not only military events but also perception, social closeness, and the attempt to maintain a sense of normalcy amid exceptional circumstances. This consideration of the work leads directly into central questions of visual history: Who looks, what is captured, and what reality is created through the photographic excerpt?

A Connection to the Family History of Ludwig Erhard

Particularly significant is the connection of the album to the Erhard family. Among the previously unknown photographs are images of Max Erhard, the older brother of Ludwig Erhard. Hecht and Erhard served together at the front. Max Erhard fell in April 1915 during an artillery attack at the age of 25. The album thus preserves not only the perspective of a soldier from Fürth but also closes a biographical gap in the family history of Ludwig Erhard.

The Camera in War: Technology, Censorship, and Gaze Regimes

The exhibition also conveys the conditions of private war photography. More compact cameras and interchangeable film cassettes facilitated personal shots. An initial photography ban was increasingly tolerated, while censorship still applied for public dissemination. Therefore, the exhibition categorizes the album as a photographic source between personal memory, technical modernity, and military information control.

An Artistic Experience for History, Photography, and Cultural Education

The exhibition atmosphere in the foyer of the Ludwig Erhard Center directs attention to the material of the photographs, their serial arrangement, and the quiet tension between closeness and historical distance. Visitors experience an aesthetic encounter in which image composition, signs of use, and personal contexts gain equal significance. The curation connects the history of photography with historical-political education and invites focused contemplation of the works.

The foyer exhibition awaits its audience with a compelling connection of photography, biography, and memory culture. Those who wish to understand World War I not just as an abstract chapter but through the personal perspective of a young person from Fürth will find a rare and touching time document here. A visit to the Ludwig Erhard Center enriches cultural education and opens new perspectives on the power of photographic images.