Renowned newspaper photographer Heinz Gebhardt has documented Munich and its key figures for decades through his camera lens, always hunting for the perfect shot and the story behind it. His latest book focuses on what he calls a particularly 'crazy' decade - the 1980s in Germany's Bavarian capital.
Gebhardt challenges common stereotypes about Munich's 1980s, dismissing the typical image of shoulder pads, puffy sleeves, and high society air-kissing culture. 'What people know from Helmut Dietl's films actually all took place in the 1970s. The 70s were wild, the 80s were crazy,' he explains. The word 'crazy' carries a double meaning for Gebhardt - things had literally shifted out of place in Munich. According to the photographer, the September 26, 1980 Oktoberfest bombing marked a turning point, as the city's glamorous social scene began to dissolve at the beginning of the decade.
Born in 1947, Gebhardt grew up in Munich's train station district, which lay in ruins at the time. The views of the destroyed city became his first photographic subjects, captured with his mother's camera. As a student, he received his own photography set for Christmas - a box containing films, photo paper, and developer. 'Nothing worked. But nothing at all,' he recalls, remembering how all his prints remained black initially.
Determined not to give up, Gebhardt read in a book that film development required absolute darkness. As soon as his family left the house, the young student painted his bedroom window panes and frames with black oil paint. Finally, he could see something on his prints. Although his parents nearly fainted upon discovering what he had done, they eventually allowed Gebhardt to set up a darkroom in the apartment's bathroom.
For Gebhardt, photography isn't just a profession - it's his entire life. At age 17, he was accepted into the State Teaching Institute for Photography. Starting in 1968, he worked full-time as a photographer, including for Munich's Abendzeitung and 'tz' newspapers, always as a freelancer. During the day, he photographed 'murder and mayhem,' earning money covering court proceedings among other assignments. Around 9 PM, he would meet with newspaper columnists at hotel bars before heading out to wherever something was happening and whoever might be there.
Gebhardt's subjects ranged from Gloria von Thurn und Taxis to Mick Jagger, from Carnival celebrations to fashion designer Rudolph Mooshammer, actor Walter Sedlmayer, opera festivals, East German leader Honecker's visits, and royal visits. The photographer never ran out of stories. When on the hunt for shots, he preferred staying in the background: 'I observed them as they really are. And you can only capture that if you let them be themselves. And people always told me: You take completely different pictures. But that's exactly how we are!'
While some might call him an early paparazzi photographer, Gebhardt maintained certain boundaries. He once exclusively photographed actor Heinz Rümann's breakdown at his wife's grave but made the decision never to publish those images, keeping them private out of respect.
Gebhardt never gave up easily, and one motif he captured repeatedly over decades was his hometown's silhouette against the snow-covered Alps. 'The foehn wind around Christmas is often best suited for this - warm air below and cold air above if possible.' However, not only did the weather need to cooperate, but he also needed access to the right locations: 'And quite a bit of time passes figuring out: Which roof can I get onto? Is there a janitor? Are the people friendly or will I be chased away immediately?'
Despite creating unique cityscapes, Gebhardt has always remained modest about his work: 'I never saw myself as an artistic photographer, but as a city chronicler.' The 1970s and 1980s in Munich - Heinz Gebhardt not only captured them in his photographs but also enjoyed them to the fullest: 'It was beautiful,' he reflects on those transformative decades in Bavarian history.
