Munich: Marienplatz

View to the northwest

In 1905, the construction of the New City Hall was completed. From 1895, the tramways in Munich were electrified and the horsecars gradually disappeared. Another tram line ran across Marienplatz around 1900, which now also ran across the north side of the square, continuing north along Weinstraße. Around 1900, it was also discussed whether the rails and necessary electricity networks disfigure the cityscape.
Perhaps for such reasons, the photograph by Jaeger & Goergen from 1908/1910 shows strong retouching. A closer look reveals not only the touched-up streetcars and people in the square, but also the removed overhead power lines that ran across the square. Retouching has been a common practice in portraiture and architectural photography since the early days of photography, whether to touch up a spot, as here, or to free the subject from the background. Such touch-ups are more visible in the original photograph than in the digital copy.