ALBUM VI - BEIJING, TIANJIN, BOXER REBELLION

LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

comprising 67 personal photographs of China. There are more than 20 photographs taken in Beijing, most prominently of the Forbidden City. One photograph shows the famous bronze dragon tortoise and another shows the same statue with Schröder beside it. Many of the photographs show scenes of battle with weapons, soldiers running into conflict, and destroyed buildings which depict the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 which sought to rid China of foreign nationals and Christian missionaries. These photographs depict the harsh reality of the conflict, and it is likely that they show the battle of Tientsin which took place on 13th-14th July 1900. We can assume this as this battle took place at the walled settlement of the Legation Quarter as this is where many foreign nationals and Chinese Christians lived at the time and was sieged by Chinese soldiers' seeking to capture the inhabitants of the settlement. One photograph (No. 66) is simply of a gravestone which states in German 'Here Lies Georg Hansler of Tientsin, Deceased July 14 1900' - possibly a friend or acquaintance of Schröder who died in the conflict (possibly the military figure photographed in No. 65) (67)

largest 13.5 x 10cm