Teobert Maler was a German-Austrian architect and photographer. In 1865 he made his first trip to Mexico as part of the entourage of Emperor Maximilian. From 1865 to 1877 and 1884 to 1894 he travelled around South America and Guatemala. As a result of Maler’s numerous works and photographs, he is viewed as a pioneer in the exploration of Mayan ruins (settlement archaeology). He also produced a large number of excellent photographs and drawings of the ruins and compiled lists of words from the Totonacan and Zapotec languages.

Material:

• 12 notebooks, over 2,700 photographs in 145 folders, offprints
• 1 three-volume manuscript (description of the Yucatan ruins; published in 1997 under the title “Península Yucatán”)
• manuscripts (Mayan ruins in the Petén region of northern Guatemala and in the Usumacinta region of southern Mexico)
• 7 notebooks (diary-like entries and sketches, 1886-1895)
• 1 diary (trip to Veracruz, 1902-1903)
• sketches
• architectural drawings (Mayan ruins)
• plans
• letters
• numerous photographs and sheet film slides (although some of the photographs date back over 100 years, they are still incredibly sharp and depict people, city scenes, landscapes, plants, animals and the condition of pre-Columbian buildings at that time)
• picture postcards

Keywords: Guatemala, Mexico, archaeology, ethnolinguistics, history of photography, travelogues

Teobert Maler in the Digital Collections IAI

Exhibition: Teobert Maler: Historische Fotografien Mexikos

Catalog