Founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 ullstein bild rapidly established itself as the leading publisher in Germany of newspapers and magazines such as Berliner Illustrirte. Included in the 10000 employees were many outstanding Weimar Republic photographers whose work suvived intact the perils of war.

The company broke up during the political turmoil of WWII but during the 1950s ullstein bild reasserted its position as a leading picture agency and was taken over by publisher, Axel-Springer in 1959.

After a century of growth the ullstein bild picture archive of news photography and photojournalism was, and still is, providing real life pictures - on all areas of life, from all around the world, from the beginnings of photography until today.

In the 21st century ullstein bild is now scanning its archives which are available in the UK in English at TopFoto.co.uk

Click here for a History of Germany from the ullstein bild collection

1871-1938 | 1939-1945 | 1946-1961 | 1962-1988 | 1989-2007        Click here for a press release