Werner Lenggenhager Photographs, approximately 1950-1966

Werner Lenggenhager was known for his efforts to create a comprehensive photographic record of Seattle’s architecture and monuments during the 1950s-1970s. Originally from St. Gall, Switzerland, Lenggenhager moved to Queensland, Australia, where he bought his first camera. He came to San Francisco in 1924 and obtained American citizenship by 1931. Later, in 1939, he moved to Seattle. Lenggenhager worked at the Boeing Aircraft Company and continued to develop an interest in photography. During a trip home to Switzerland, he became aware of the value of the architecture he had taken for granted as a youth and began photographing historic buildings. Upon his return to Seattle, some of his photographs of Swiss scenes were exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum from June 8th to September 14th, 1949. The Seattle Public Library purchased forty of his prints to add to its Swiss collection.

With encouragement from the staff at the Seattle Public Library, Lenggenhager soon turned his attention to photographing local Seattle architecture and landmarks. In 1952, his photographs were featured in the “Retrospective Review of Seattle Architecture” exhibit at the Henry Art Gallery. This led to the inclusion of some of his photographs in Seattle architect Victor Steinbrueck’s Seattle Architecture, 1850-1953 , published in 1953. Lenggenhager then began documenting local monuments and public art for the Seattle Public Library’s reference department. He later photographed monuments and features all around the state, including covered bridges. By 1957, he had already donated over five thousand photographs of local historical subject matter to the Seattle Public Library and the Museum of History and Industry.

Lenggenhager authored Historical Markers and Monuments of the State of Washington , an index in ten volumes that was published between 1967 and 1970. In the 1960s and 1970s, he served as photographer in collaboration with author Lucille McDonald on The Look of Old Time Washington (1971) and Where the Washingtonians Lived: Interesting Early Homes and the People Who Built and Lived in Them (1969).