Anton Schiestl

© Anton Schiestl

Anton Schiestl was born into an old established family of dyers in Baden, whose ancestors had moved from the South Tyrolian town of Sterzing to Baden around 1600. Having attended a business school, he trained to become a tradesman. He took over the spices and delikatessen shop situated in the family house. As he had developed a great interest in photography as a young man, he offered photographic accessories as a speciality in his shop.

In 1906, Anton Schiestl and his business partner Adolf Wolf opened a studio – the Photo-Atelier Schiestl & Wolf – in Annagasse, Baden. He devoted himself exclusively to photography, participating in numerous photographic exhibitions at home and abroad. Schiestl also became a court-appointed expert for photography. Members of the Austrian imperial family availed themselves of Anton -Schiestl’s photographic services during their stays in Baden on many occasions. Thus he was awarded the title ‘photographer to the imperial and royal court’. Schiestl produced numerous series of picture postcards for the city of Baden. In 1924, he became a member of the muni-cipal Reklamekomitee, an advertising standards setting agency.

Apart from being a photographer he also got involved in various other areas of public life. For example, he had commemorative coins and medals minted with the portrait of various public figures from Baden. Schiestl was also a member of the Numismatic Society and the -Austrian Society for Numismatics. As a member of the society Niederösterreichische Landesfreunde (friends of Lower Austria) he and the two local historians Carl Calliano and Gustav Calliano co-founded the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Museum in Baden, of which he was the director. The photographer, who was promoted to Kommerzialrat was also a founder member of the Viennese Urania, a centre for adult education, and the Trotting Race Association of Baden.

Schiestl died on July 1, 1933 after a fire-fighting operation in Baden during which he took photographs. He was buried in Baden. The Schiestl-Hof, where Anton Schiestl and Adolf Wolf opened their studio on April 15, 1906, is still one of the prominent buildings in the spa town of Baden.

Collection Michael Bernaschek / Archive Christian Schörg.