Edgar Hanfstaengl

Edgar Hanfstaengl (15 July 1842, Munich – 28 May 1910, Munich) was a Chief Clerk and Commercial Purchaser, and an Art Publisher. He is a significant figure because he was the son of a famous Bavarian court photographer connected with the circle of Ludwig II, and became a close confidant of the Duchess Sophie Charlotte in Bavaria. He was also the father of Ernst Hanfstaengl, the political figure.

Origins and young life

Edgar Hanfstaengl was born in Munich, the son of the photographer Franz Hanfstaengl (1804–1877) and his first wife Frau Franziska Hanfstaengl-Wegmeier (1809–1860). Edgar completed a training as commercial purchaser in Stettin and with a London wholesaler. At the beginning of the 1860s Edgar set out for Asia, to work as financial clerk to the Clark Tea Wholesaler's Company. In 1867 he returned to Munich to his father's Art business, where he was put to work as head clerk. In the same year he embarked upon a love-affair with the fiancée of Ludwig II of Bavaria, Princess Sophie Charlotte. On November 12, 1868 Edgar took over the photographic workshop and expanded the business to the Franz Hanfstaengl Art Publishing House.