Charles Bernhoeft

Charles Michel Bernhoeft (22 July 1859 – 7 February 1933) was a Luxembourgish photographer known for his portraits of the Grand Ducal court, as well as numerous landscapes that he turned into postcards.

Early life and family Born in Luxembourg City on 22 July 1859, Bernhoeft was the son of army officer Carl Johann Adolph Bernhoeft and Marguerite Specht, the daughter of a merchant. He was the only son but had six sisters. In 1889, after studying photography and lithography, Bernhoeft married Marie-Louise Bernardy, a schoolteacher's daughter. They had two sons.

Career Bernhoeft created a number of photo albums, illustrated magazines and several series of postcards, one of which contains 1,600 different images. Some 20 people were employed by his firm, Editions photographiques Bernhoeft.

In 1895, together with the journalist Jean-Nicolas Moes, Bernhoeft launched Luxembourg's first illustrated weekly magazine, Das Luxemburger Land in Wort und Bild, which published nine issues.

Flash invention

Bernhoeft was also an inventor, developing systems providing indirect artificial lighting to facilitate portrait photography. He adapted the approach to magnesium flash photography, which proved successful for photographing children, unable to keep still for very long. He patented the device as Bernhoeft's Blitzlichtapparat Sanssouci and sold some 300 units.