Herman Benke, A Legacy of Photos

Benke and his horse, undated.

What do a photo of downtown Manitowoc, an image of the Chief Mexico monument dedication, and a street scene of Clarks Mills all have in common?  Sure, they are all images of Manitowoc County but their roots run deeper than that.  The three images, along with hundreds, maybe even thousands more, are imprinted “H.C. Benke.”

It was a love of photography that led Hermann C. Benke (also spelled Behnke) to capture Manitowoc County and the surrounding communities unlike anyone else at the turn of the 20th century.  Chances are if you’ve seen a photo from that time period, it’s probably a Benke photo postcard.

H.C. Benke, undated

Benke was born in Germany in 1869.  In the 1890s, Hermann, his parents Charles E. and Bertha, and two sisters came to Wisconsin and settled west of Collins on Highway JJ. There the family owned a general store, where Hermann was the storekeeper and postmaster.  He was also the school teacher in the nearby town of Potter. Being a teacher allowed the budding photographer to have the freedom to explore the area during the summer months. After the death of Hermann’s parents in 1906, the family moved to Manitowoc. In 1915, Benke moved to Illinois and became a botany professor at the University of Chicago.  In addition to photographing his new city, Hermann still made time to return to Manitowoc County, with his camera closely by his side.

Benke traveled throughout Manitowoc County with his trusty horse, Jackson, and his camera, which he purchased in 1886 and had used until his death.  Along with his photography skills, Benke was also a talented writer.  He was very good at writing the places, names, and dates on his images, which all serve as a great tool in recording the era’s history.

While Benke photographed many families, school children and communities, most of his images that exist today took the form of picture postcards, an exciting trend in the early 1900s.  Some of the more popular picture postcards sold over 10,000 copies.  The postcards were used as early forms of advertising for businesses and communities, as well as special notes to far away family members.  With postage at a penny, photo postcards were sent throughout the United States. 

Hermann Benke died in Chicago in 1946. He is buried in the family plot in the Brillion Village cemetery. 

In his later years Benke’s business cards held a quote written by William Cowper, an English poet, “Blest be the art that can immortalize; the art that baffles time’s tyrannic claim to quench it.”   With Benke’s photos we have a much clearer picture of what life was like more than a century ago.  Just imagine, a hundred years from now your photos could serve as a time capsule of what life is like today.  It is now our job to carry on what Benke stared and record our communities through photos.  Just remember to label and date your images - the history keepers of tomorrow will thank you.