Dear Friends,
Thank you for all your nice words.
It's good to see that these great photos are appreciated - and they are a very interesting example what love and hate can achieve. The photos were taken by Emilio Biel. Emilio Biel would have been one of the most famous Portuguese - if he would have been Portuguese. He was born in Germany on Sep. 18th, 1838 and moved to Portugal in 1857. From 1860 on he lived in Porto. He absolutely loved technology. He understood that the world was changing quickly and he tried to learn as much as possible about all the new inventions. He made one of his hobbies to his profession: He became a photographer and was so successful that the members of the Royal family chose him to take their photos. But the photography wasn't enough to keep him busy. He realized the potential for electric light before most other people and he was the driving force to provide electric light to the town of Vila Real. There are also rumors that Emilio Biel was allowed to drive the first tram of Porto at the inauguration. He is also believed to have been the first owner of a telephone in Porto. In 1880 he issued a special edition of the "Lusiadas" from Camões - the most famous Portuguese writer ever. This edition is so well done and so beautiful that it's nearly impossible to find it these days and if, then only at an extraordinary prices of several thosand dollars. He issued "A Arte e a Natureza em Portugal" in 8 volumes between 1902 and 1908 with hundreds of photos about Portugal. He was a successful businessman and would have been very famous nowadays in Portugal - however, the first World War happened and Portugal and Germany were enemies. Even if Emilio Biel loved Portugal and was more dedicated to the country than most Portuguese, it didn't help him - the Portuguese government confiscated all the assets of the Germans in Portugal. He lost his house and his photo archive - which showed the life of the Portuguese since 1860. He had been traveling 50 years through Portugal, taking thousands and thousands of photos. He was very interested in rail roads and has published many beautiful photos of the building of rail road tracks in northern Portugal. He took portraits of shepherds and many workers and helps us to have an idea how people in the late 19th century in Portugal were dressed. He took many photos of villages and towns and from convents and churches. He was very interested in the Douro Valley and the Quintas of the Douro. Some of his photos have survived - but most of his archive was (due to my knowledge) sold by the Portuguese government to somebody in Canada for a ridiculous low price and has never been seen again. Emilio Biel died on September 14, 1915.
So the photos that I have shown here will have been taken between 1860 and 1915 - most likely between 1900 and 1908, if I must guess.
I am very sorry for the length of this post - but Emilio Biel is one of my personal heroes and I am always glad when I can educate the public about him...
And I had this text written for another web-page and just needed to copy and paste it...
