Toegangsportaal van het Martineum te Braunschweig 1892

This is J. Schombardt’s photograph of the entrance portal of the Martineum in Braunschweig. Though undated, its inclusion in a bound collection suggests that the image functioned as part of a wider civic project. This northern German city was once the seat of Henry the Lion, the Duke of Saxony, a place of considerable influence. In the early modern period, its fortunes waned, but the Martineum served as a reminder of the city's former glory. The ornate design, captured by Schombardt, serves to visually impress upon visitors the institution's status as one of Braunschweig's oldest schools, founded in 1398. The gate itself suggests the separation of the educated elite from the outside world, and perhaps the need to protect them. The portal’s visual vocabulary of classical sculpture served to align the school with a longer and more respected intellectual tradition, burnishing its prestige. Careful investigation of municipal archives and architectural records would help us to reconstruct the social forces at play in the image’s creation and circulation, granting insight into the values of the local community.