The Grand Hotel, Princes Street
1899 and 1902 (Henry Winkelmann) - 2022
Click on image to toggle transition between two photographs
1899 image: Henry Winkelmann | Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1-W0137
The Grand Hotel in Princes Street opened in 1889 and closed in 1966 when it was converted into an office building. In the late 1980s it was demolished, with only its façade preserved. Below: a cropped detail from the 1899 image - click for transition.
The 1901 fire
On the night of 30-31 May 1901 a fire broke out in the hotel which destroyed the interior of the bulding and took five lives, including the three young daughters of the licensee.
Above: Headline from the Auckland Star, 31 May 1901. For the Star's account of the fire see the National Library's Papers Past site, here.
Below, the aftermath of the fire. Auckland Weekly News.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections
1902
The Grand was rebuilt after the fire, and in 1902 Winkelmann returned to this subject. While his 1899 image above was made from street level, this time he sought out an elevated position for his camera (this would be a recurring theme throughout his career). Click on his image below for a then-and-now transition.
1902 image: Henry Winkelmann | Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1-W0022
Click here for a larger, wider version of this transition.
The motion picture
Winkelmann made three exposures of this scene without moving his camera position, so he has effectively given us a short time lapse movie. (However what isn't clear is how the plates are ordered in time; they are ordered in the looping animation below by their Record ID numbers: 1-W0022; 1-W0102; 1-W0128.)
Below, a version of the sequence above reversed. Because these two animations loop, the correct time-order of Winkelmann's plates must be contained in one of them.
Below: three cropped details (from the first animation) starting with the carriage at left.
Below: a detail of the people at the entrance and right-hand carriage.
Below: the figure at the window. In this animation a curious guest (one supposes) in a third-floor room watches proceedings in the street.
Winkelmann recorded in his ledger that these photographs were made on 25 September 1902.
Click here for a then-and-now animation of these images.
The other side of Princes Street (where was Winkelmann?)
The eastern side of Princes Street opposite the Grand lacked the glamour of a plush, luxury hotel, being notable only for the presence of the Auckland Institute and Museum building at its northern end. Opposite the Grand stood an unexceptional group of buildings, and it seems that Winkelmann positioned himself and his camera on the veranda of Craig's Museum and Fern Shop, seen below in a photo taken by Winkelmann from the roof of the Grand, also in 1902.
View of Parnell from Grand Hotel, 1902: Henry Winkelmann | Auckland Museum PH-NEG-636
Parting shot
In October 1902, Winkelmann yet again revisited this subject, making the picture seen below (click on image for a then-and-now transition).
1902 image: Henry Winkelmann | Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1-W1053
