Western Mirror: China 1933-1936 under a German pilot lens

China's first aerial photo collection

More than 200 rare aerial photos of the first four -color printing in China

"Western Mirror: Under a German pilot lens

China 1933-1936 "

The first edition of this earliest air photography collection in China, in 1938, collected nearly 200 rare aerial photos: the magnificent old shadow of Xi'an City Wall, the "buffalo pulling the plane", the group photo of the Republic of China before the plane, etc. These photos were taken during the flight mission in China from 1933 to 1936, and took the roller -style Laika Camera. The 12 earliest aerial photos of the Appendix Section were taken by French officers in the early 20th century.

Grafzu Castell (Grafzu Castell): Born in Berlin in 1905, he took a pilot certificate at the age of 21 and became a pilot of German Hansha Airlines in 1930. In 1933, Cast came to China and became the first batch of pilots serving Eurasian airlines, responsible for opening new routes. In 1936, Casta returned to Germany and participated in opening up the longest Berlin to Kabul route at that time. In Hansha Airlines alone, Castle's cumulative flight mileage reached 2 million kilometers. After retirement, Casta was awarded the Cross Medal by Federal Germany.

In the 1930s, China's aviation photography was far from forming a climate. A German pilot named Castor came to China with the rolling curtain Laika camera that just came out. The magnificent natural landscape of China has deeply attracted Castle, and the camera in his hands form a perfect combination with the driving aircraft.

"For the first time in China, I was deeply intoxicated in the beautiful scenery of the unique mountains and rivers, and immediately decided to shoot these different terrain and landforms. The photos should take into account the artistic and documentary. With geological features, all kinds of buildings under agricultural civilization, and precious monuments of famous victory. "

Fish pond near Wuxi. The canal is connected to Suzhou and Wuxi.

All this is closely related to Castle's growth. Graf Zu Castell, born in 1905, was born in a noble family on the shore of Lake Berlini. In 1926, 21 -year -old Caster obtained a pilot certificate. In 1930, he officially became a pilot of the German Hansha Airlines, mainly flying European routes. In 1933, he came to China to work in Eurasian Airlines. In 1937, he returned to Hansha Airlines, flying Germany and near the east, and participated in the opening of the Berlin -Kabul route, which was the longest route in the world at that time. Since then, he has been engaged in the aviation industry until he retired in 1972.

Caster has a strong interest in China since he was a child. During the Gengzi Incident, his two uncles had participated in the Yuanzheng Army and the Boxer Campaign. The young Castle often tangled the story of the uncle to give him a group and the group. a couple of hours. In 1908, Caster's parents traveled far away from East Asia and brought him back to many Chinese crafts. These crafts were exquisitely produced and strangely shaped, which fascinated Castle. When he was a student, Casta loved adventure literature, and there was still a large area of ​​inaccessible areas in China at that time. These mysterious areas aroused his strong curiosity and made him never forget to China.

Coal Mountain and Forbidden. Shooting from north to south. Coal Mountain (now Jingshan Park), when the Ziyan City was built in the Ming Dynasty, it was piled up here, so it was named "Coal Mountain".

In 1931, the Ministry of Communications of Hansha and the Nanjing National Government jointly established the Sino -German "Eurasian Airlines" to open up new routes. Caster became one of the first pilots to serve the "Eurasian Airlines". Realizing that his long -term dream was about to realize, Casta was excited.

China's first aircraft on the French "Little Daily"

However, Casta's trip to China is not smooth. When I first arrived in China, a accident occurred in Castle's first test flight. At that time, he accepted a task to perform a flight show for Shanghai citizens to promote Eurasian airlines. For Castle, which has rich flight experience, this is naturally a piece of cake, and he is confidently inherited. However, due to the poor airport conditions and short runways in Shanghai at that time, when the landing rack was broken, the propeller was bent, which made him "violent names" in the circle of pilots and became a joke.

Zhengzhou Kaiyuan Temple

Afterwards, Caster learned lessons. Every time he performed a flight task, he was always careful and did not dare to care. Even so, because China's aviation industry was in its infancy at that time, the infrastructure was poor, and there was no weather forecast and high -quality flight map, Casta still encountered a lot of difficulties when performing tasks. On the swamps of the wilderness and southern water field. Caster once vividly recalled his experience in Chengdu. At that time, the landing gear of the entire JU52 aircraft was trapped into the mud. Without any modern machinery and equipment assistance, it was difficult to drag out the body of up to 8 tons from the mud. Caster thought of the bison used in local farming, and he predicted that about 10 buffalo. To this end, Casta and his mechanic spent two days before persuading the owners of buffalo. "They all think that this will hurt the buffalo, so we spend their best to persuade them." Casta tied the two ends of the buffalo to the fuselage, so that their owners ordered them beside them, but everything was futile. Essence "These buffalo people are as conservative as their owners -they only know La Li for hundreds of years. In the end, the ropes were pulled off, and the fuselage was almost unmoved, and the villagers watching were laughing. Coal Mountain and Forbidden City

After all, Castus has rich experience in flight. Once he adapted to a new environment, he showed a strong ability to work. Whether it is a severe route of climate change in Guangzhou -Hankou, or a high -altitude and complex route such as Chengdu -Kunming, he can always complete the flight task. Because the Ministry of Communications of the National Government accounted for two -thirds of Eurasian airlines, Castus needed both Feitong passenger routes and special tasks delivered by the government. On one occasion, he transported some bombs up to thousands of kilograms from Nanjing to Lanzhou, but the bomb was not cast on the battlefield that was fighting at the time. Instead, he accidentally exploded two years later, causing many innocent civilians. In July 1935, the ninth Panchen Men, Guinima, also took a plane driving by Castle from Nanjing to Beijing. Among the officers from the sent officers, Wang Jingwei and Dai Jitao were sent to the Republic of China. After arriving in Beijing, Casta rejected the cost of boarding from Panchen -a full box of paper banknotes, as long as Panchen Sending him a signature photo.

The ninth Panchen Men Guinima

During many flights, Casta took a lot of precious photos with a Leica camera. Most of them use mid -telephoto lenses to shoot at a high altitude of 1,000-2500 meters above sea level. Based on the special feelings for China, Castle was published after returning to China, named "China Flying". He hopes: "For Westerners who know some of them in China, these aerial photos I took provided them with a new perspective to view China. For those Westerners who knew nothing about China, this avianode photo Can help them know China better. "

Yinchuan Chengtian Temple

Thanksgiving Casta's aerial photography art and courage more than 80 years ago provided the possibility of touching the far -reaching era.

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