Precious assets : Door County photography of artisan jeweler Ferdinand Hotz

Author / Creator

Slattery, James S., author

Available as

Online

Summary

Ferdinand Hotz (1868-1946) was born and educated in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1884 at age 16. He worked for several jewelry companies in Chicago and San Francisco and demonstra...

Ferdinand Hotz (1868-1946) was born and educated in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1884 at age 16. He worked for several jewelry companies in Chicago and San Francisco and demonstrated a remarkable talent for designing settings for fine gemstones. Hotz made his first trip to Door County in 1905 and soon began acquiring properties, first in and around Fish Creek but eventually county wide. By the late 1920s he was the largest land owner in Door County. Through his photographs, Hotz documented the Door County he knew and appreciated. The collection consists of 500 donated negatives as well as digital images from albums and other materials loaned to WHS by Hotz's grandson, G. Leonard Apfelbach, M.D.

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