Dr Werner Kissling

Dr Werner Kissling was born in Breslau, Germany (now Poland) on 11th April 1895. He died in Dumfries, Scotland on 3rd February 1988. During the ninety two years of his life he was a soldier, a student, a diplomat, an interned 'alien', an ethnographer and a photographer. His research focused on rural crafts, agriculture and architecture. He began research in Eriskay and South Uist but extended his interests to include Yorkshire, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Dumfries and Galloway. For the last thirty years of his life he based his research from Dumfries Museum. When he died, a large collection of his photographs and papers were donated to the museum. In 2018 a suitcase containing some of Dr Kissling's more personal belongings was brought to the museum. This inspired the Dr Werner Kissling Project 2019, a project to document the newly acquired collections and collect reminiscences from people who remembered Dr Kissling. This online exhibition includes objects from the suitcase as well as from the older collections. It also incorporates information provided by people who were interviewed as part of the project. The full interviews from the project are available to view in Dumfries Museum on request. This exhibition was put together by Kirsty Kernohan as part of the Dr Werner Kissling Project 2019. More of Dr Kissling's photographs can be seen in Werner Kissling: A Retrospective and a collection of his photographs on blacksmithing.    This research was supported by the Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities.  
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Rope making
  Rope Making, South Uist, c. 1953    The first photograph shows a length of hay rope collected b
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Dr Kissling in the Western Isles
  Dr Kissling on The Elspeth, The Western Isles, 1934   This photograph shows Dr Kissling on a ya
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Dr Kissling as a diplomat
  Dr Kissling as a diplomat, Wales, 1929   This photograph shows Dr Kissling at the beach in Barm
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The Kissling brothers
  The Kissling Brothers, Germany, 1914   These photographs show Dr Kissling and his brothers in t
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Postcard from Johanna Kissling to her children
  Postcard from Johanna Kissling to her children, Western Isles, 1905   This is a postcard sent b
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The Kissling family's home
  The Kissling Family's home, Heinzendorf, 1890s These two photographs show the Kisslings' fami
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Johanna and Georg Kissling with their children
  Johanna and Georg Kissling with their children, Breslau, 1890s   These two photographs show Wer
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Dr Kissling's Suitcase
  Dr Kissling's suitcase, Dumfries Museum, 2019 This is a photograph of Dr Kissling's open suit
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