Capturing the Heart of Hermann
My archival object is a glass negative image by Alice Bock Heckmann titled “Snowball fight.” It was taken in Hermann, Missouri, and features a man and woman playing in the snow in the middle of a street. They are facing one another, slightly crouched as if they were bending down to scoop some snow off of the ground. The man and woman are wearing dark-colored clothing including coats and hats, but their faces are not visible in the photograph. Several tracks have been made in the snow, some from them and some likely from others passing by. Three houses are visible in the background of the image and all of them have light-colored, horizontal, siding. According to the description, Heckmann took this photograph near the Poeschel House on West Third Street. The house farthest away from the pair is identified in the description as belonging to Mim Schmidt and facing Market Street. Judging by the numerous roofs visible in the photo, I assume this was taken in a residential area.
Hermann is the most well known city in my assigned research area, Gasconade County. There are plenty of images of Hermann today on the internet, but I wanted to get a feel for what it was like in the past. I was perusing the State Historical Society of Missouri’s photograph collection and happened to stumble across this glass negative image by Alice Bock Heckmann. It instantly stood out to me. I love how sincere it feels. The slightly blurred motions of the man and woman make it seem like this was a spontaneous, in the moment that Heckmann impulsively captured. The man and woman are absorbed in their snowball fight in a way that makes it seem like they were completely unaware of Heckmann and her camera. There is something beautiful about the way their joy and light are forever frozen in time.
I was unable to find any information on Alice Bock Heckmann during my research. This leads me to believe she was not a well known photographer outside of Hermann, Missouri. By looking at her other work in the “Alice Bock Heckmann Glass Plate Negatives’’ collection, we can make some inferences about her motives and intended audience. Her subjects are a strange mix of people (either a single person or a group), houses (sometimes with the family standing in front of it), and landscapes in Hermann. She seems to be photographing for memory as if she is going away for a very long time and wants to freeze the places she loves in time. The collection as a whole has the feel of an old family scrapbook. One of the people at the state historical society mentioned that a lot of their material was donated to them by the original owner’s descendants. It would seem likely then that someone inherited Heckmann’s photographs, recognized their value as a snapshot of Missouri history, and gave them to the State Historical Society so that they, and in effect, Heckmann, could live on.
Unfortunately, my archival object, “Snowball fight”, does not have a date. However, when looking through the “Alice Bock Heckmann Glass Plate Negatives’’ collection on the State Historical Society of Missouri’s website, I found several other images that did include dates ranging from around 1906 to 1914. It is safe to assume that “Snowball fight” was taken around the same time as the other. This is a very interesting point in German history in Missouri. A sort of calm before the storm. Germans were doing quite well before World War I. They had social clubs, emphasized education, were religiously diverse, drank socially, and conducted most of their affairs in German. They frequently clashed with the Temperance movement, but their wineries and breweries were still very successful. The German community had managed to stake out good lives for themselves in Missouri all while preserving their existing culture. Much of this would change, of course, with the outbreak of World War I. Heckmann’s photographs capture a prosperous time for the Germans in Hermann. Shortly after they would face harsh scrutiny, strong anti-German sentiments, and repression of their native language.
Heckmann’s photographs, like “Snowball fight”, memorialize a high point for German culture in Missouri where it was both strong and displayed publicly. That is not to say that the Germans did not face any pushback. The Temperance movement was certainly hell bent on closing their wineries and breweries and Germans and their Anglo-American neighbors disagreed on Sunday culture. Despite these factors, German culture and heritage was being actively preserved through the use of the language and focus on education. Heckmann was photographing Hermann around the peak of Germans in Missouri, forever freezing their success. Rampant anti-German sentiment during two World Wars and the Temperance movement finally succeeded in closing German wineries and breweries. Supporters of German culture in Missouri have struggled to revive public interest and the common use of the German language has all but been lost. Heckmann’s photographs provide proof that German heritage once thrived in Missouri and hope that it can do so again.
