William Fehr

William Fehr (17 April 1892 – 2 April 1968) was a South African businessman and art collector noted for his acquisition of famous artworks, known as the William Fehr Collection, now on display in the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. The collection was made publicly available for the first time in 1952 when Fehr and other collectors were invited to display historic pieces at the castle. A decade later the collection was purchased by the state and is now owned by The Department of Arts and Culture of South Africa.

Early childhood William Fehr was born in a remote colonial outpost called Burgersdorp, a small town that linked the Cape Colony in the eastern frontier to the south of the Free State via a newly built railway. Fehr attended an Academy school in the little town. In 1901 his father Carl Fehr, who was a successful businessman in the town, moved his family back to his hometown of Wiesbaden in Germany as a result of his poor health and the looming threat of the Anglo-Boer War. In Wiesbaden, William and his two younger siblings Gordon and Bertha attended Kënigliches Real-Gymnasium Schule.

Early career By 1912 William had taken up an apprenticeship at Edward Markus, a commerce firm in Berlin. In 1914 he became the head of the company's samples department at its London branch, a city that began refining his love for fine art. His most prized works were in the form of personal pictures from his time growing up. William was fascinated with the ever-expanding and evolving medium of photography, and its ability to capture ordinary life onto a glass plate.

Legacy Today local and international researchers and artists continue to show interest in studying The William Fehr Collection as a way on interrogating a part of Africa's cultural and colonial heritage. Prints have been done of some of the pictures being house at the Castle, which can now be purchased through the Africa Media Online portal.