Ellinger case (1916): A businesswoman disguised as a man
Culture
An exciting Salzburg family story about the festival has now been processed as a film project: the best-known photos since the early days of the Salzburg Festival are not from the man whose name they are signed with. The photographer was a young woman, it all started in 1916.
Many of the historical photographs from the early days of the Salzburg Festival at the beginning of the 20th century are signed with the name Carl Ellinger. The photographer had his studio on Schwarzstrasse. In fact, in 1916 Ellinger sold the business to a woman named Betty Steinhart – a 24-year-old woman who bought a photo studio in the middle of World War I.
1916: 24-year-old woman bought a photo studio
Betty Steinhart’s granddaughter still has the countless photos from the beginning of the 20th century in her archive. Director Beate Thalberg viewed a number of them for her work on her film celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Salzburg Festival and got the ball rolling behind the story of the photos: “The photos are very unusual – so I wanted to know who this Carl Ellinger was who took all these great photos.”
Mother and daughter work under the Ellinger name
Betty Steinhart ran the business for 59 years, later also together with her daughter Ruth – both worked under the name Ellinger. Susanne Gordon is the granddaughter of the exceptional photographer – for her, the impressive family history conveys a strong message: It is a bit of a role model: If you are passionate about something and are convinced, you should do it,” says Susanne Gordon exactly about the grandmother’s story.
Young woman was an institution in the festival business
Betty Steinhart was an institution in the festival business. You can do any artist. As successful as mother and daughter Ellinger were as photographers, they were also modest: Betty Steinhart sent her granddaughter Susanne Gordon for an interview in the summer of 1968. Now, with the film project, the granddaughter is commemorating the double wife of her grandmother and her mother – together with director Beate Thalberg and a creative team of young filmmakers.