A Life Rooted in Hamburg

Ebba Tesdorpf was born into a Hanseatic family in Hamburg, Germany, on 23 January 1851. Her lineage was deeply connected to the history of the region, with ancestors who had served as mayors of Lübeck. The daughter of Hans Peter Friedrich Tesdorpf and Antoinette Karoline Mohrmann, she grew up surrounded by the traditions of a merchant and political class. It was in these familiar streets that she first began to develop her talent for drawing.

Her early training was shaped by local instructors such as Mohrhagen Bernhard and Johann Theobald Riefesell, who taught drawing to women of Hamburg's high society. Later, in 1898, she spent a brief period at the Academy in Düsseldorf, studying under Hermann Gross. While her technical skills grew through these formal lessons, her heart remained tied to the changing landscape of her home city.

The Mission to Record a Changing City

During the 1880s and 1890s, Hamburg underwent significant urban renewal. As old structures were demolished to make way for the new, Tesdorpf felt a personal responsibility to document what was being lost. At the suggestion of Justus Brinckmann and Alfred Lichtwark, she began a dedicated effort to record the cityscape during this phase of demolition. This work became more than a hobby; it became her mission.

Her drawings and watercolors captured the many layers of Hamburg life. She focused on:

• The streets and canals that defined the city's layout.
• The bustling activity of the city harbor.
• The mundane, everyday scenes found in both old and new parts of town.
• Specific architectural details of structures destined for destruction.

Later Years and Legacy

Around 1894, Tesdorpf moved to Düsseldorf, where she lived for the remainder of her life. In this later period, her work expanded to include oil paintings. Despite the distance from Hamburg, her commitment to preserving its history never wavered. She produced a vast body of work, including over 600 drawings and several watercolors from the turn of the century.

Tesdorpf eventually became financially independent following the death of her parents. She chose to leave a lasting record of her city for future generations by donating her drawings and a collection of Hamburgensien—artworks pertaining to Hamburg—to the Hamburg Museum of Arts and Crafts. These pieces, now held in the Museum of Hamburg History, remain a vital documentary resource for understanding the appearance of Hamburg during the second half of the 19th century. She passed away in Ahrweiler while staying at a spa in 1920.