Collection: Jan George

Early Life and Passion for Photography

Jan George was born in 1931 in Berlin to actor parents Heinrich George and Berta Drews. Growing up in Wannsee with his youngr brother Götz, Jan pursued photography while Götz became an actor. Jan's first camera was an Agfa-Box, and he often captured family moments with his mother's Exakta.

Post-War Berlin Through the Lens

After the war, Jan explored Berlin with a borrowed Contax camera, capturing the city's destroyed streets, train station ruins, and the disassembled Neptunbrunnen. With film material scarce, a director friend provided Jan with cinema film, which he cut and spooled into small film reels.

Notable Subjects and Influences

Jan photographed various subjects, including refugee boy Harry, the American Allies occupying his family's villa, and the Kreuzberg bohemia surrounding painter Kurt Mühlenhaupt. Influenced by photographers like Brassaï, Jan developed his unique style.

Film Career and Later Photography

Jan later learned film techniques and worked with Ufa directors like Wolfgang Liebeneiner and R.A. Stemmle. From 1954, he assisted in film projects for SFB and Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk (SWR), and created actor portraits for ZDF in the 1960s.

Since the 1980s, Jan George devoted himself to photography again and worked for advertising and magazines, including “FunkUhr”, “BILD der Frau” and “AutoBILD”. He produced portraits of actors, including his brother Götz George, who was known at the time as the crime scene detective “Schimanski”.
His pictures were shown in various exhibitions.

Born in 1931 in Berlin, Jan George, son of the famous actor couple Heinrich George and Berta Drews, grew up in Wannsee with his brother Götz. While Götz George became an actor, Jan George pursued a career in documentary and commercial filmmaking. Photography was always his passion. As a child, he captured family moments with his mother's Exakta camera, and his first camera was an Contax camera. After the war, he explored the city of Berlin with his camera, capturing the destroyed streets, the ruins of Anhalter and Lehrter train stations, and the scattered pieces of the Neptune Fountain, which was stored under the colonnades of the Neues Museum after the demolition of the Berlin Palace in 1950. He used a borrowed Contax camera from the tenor Helge Rosvaenge. Film material was scarce, so a friendly director provided him with cinema film, which was cut and threaded into small film spools. Jan George photographed the refugee boy Harry looking through the gate of the George Villa on Kleiner Wannsee, the American allies who had confiscated the family villa, and the Kreuzberg bohemia around painter Kurt Mühlenhaupt and other Berlin and international celebrities. Influenced by photographers like Brassaï, Jan George developed his own style. He later learned film techniques and worked with Ufa directors such as Wolfgang Liebeneiner and R.A. Stemmle. From 1954, he was an assistant director for film projects for SFB and Südwestdeutscher Rundfunk (SWR), and in the 1960s, he created actor portraits for ZDF. Since the 1980s, Jan George has focused more on photography, shooting for advertising and various magazines such as 'Bauwelt' and 'AutoBild'. His work has been exhibited in various galleries, including the Berlin gallery 'Mutter Fourage' and the Fotomuseum in Görlitz.