Ludwig Belitski (1830—1902)

Ludwig Belitski was born in Lower Silesia and worked as a photographer in Teplitz from 1854. He lived in St. Petersburg from 1856 to 1860 and then spent two years in Hamburg.

On May 15, 1861, he married Pauline Rauer, with whom he settled in Nordhausen in the fall of 1862. Belitski founded his own business in Hagenstraße and quickly established himself. From 1864, the family lived at Bäckerstraße 461; however, this apartment at the home of the tool and sheet metal smith Karl Hartmann soon proved to be unsuitable, as the noise level of the smithy was considered very disturbing for the work in the workshop and by the customers. In 1871, Belitski opened a store at Freiheitsstraße 14 (now Weberstraße), where he had acquired his own house. The first floor of the building housed his apartment and the second floor was used as a studio. There were further studio and utility rooms in the basement.

Ludwig Belitski mainly took portrait photographs, but also created factual and landscape photographs. For example, he published a folding greetings card for Nordhausen with four different city motifs. He developed a dry plate process and soon supplied many colleagues. Belitski employed several photographers in his studio and was also involved in the “Photographischer Verein” in Berlin as a corresponding member. He later left and became a member of the “German Photographers' Association” in 1876/77. In 1880, he received the first association prize, a silver medal, at the 9th traveling meeting of the German Photographers' Association in Weimar and was made an honorary member at this meeting.