More than 2,000 glass negatives were discovered in 1988 in the attic of the residential building at Peterssteinweg 15 in Leipzig's Südvorstadt district, including around 1,800 portraits of women, men and children from around 1930, many of them Jewish.
It is the archive of the Jewish photographer Abram Mittelmann, who lived and worked in the house with his family from 1909 to 1938. Although these are mostly "everyday" portraits, a treasure trove of photographs unique in Germany has come to light.
Only a few of the people portrayed are known. The family backgrounds, origins and positions of others, their professional biographies and their fates have remained a mystery.
The existence of the photos was forgotten for decades. The archive provides many new insights into Leipzig's Jewish community and urban society. It has only recently become available for use, thanks to the permission of the heir to the photo archive, Nadia Vergne.
The digital collection of over 3,300 photographs is publicly available in the museum's database. Only a few of the portraits have been identified so far.
The exhibition can be seen from June 3, 2026 to January 31, 2027 in the Böttchergäßchen building of the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum in Leipzig as part of the Jewish theme year "Tacheles".