Gezicht op het monument van Jean-Baptiste Kléber te Straatsburg before 1894

Charles Bernhoeft captured this image of the monument of Jean-Baptiste Kléber in Strasbourg with photography, a relatively new medium at the time. Bernhoeft, working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, operated in a period of significant political tension, particularly in the Alsace-Lorraine region, caught between French and German identities. The statue commemorates Kléber, a French general from Strasbourg, an emblem of French military prowess. But look closer: Bernhoeft, whose own identity straddled both French and German cultures, complicates this nationalistic symbol. His photographic gaze doesn't celebrate military might; instead, he presents the statue in a somewhat muted, almost melancholic tone. The surrounding urban landscape suggests a city in flux, caught between its historical connections and an uncertain future. This photograph therefore exists as more than a mere depiction. It encapsulates the nuanced and often conflicted identities of the people living in this border region, reflecting their complex negotiations of culture, nationality, and memory.