New Birmingham exhibition tells remarkable story of gay photographer who fled the Nazis
- midlandsrainbow
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
A new exhibition in Birmingham will spotlight the remarkable story of gay, German-Jewish photographer, Lisel Haas, who fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and rebuilt her life and career in the West Midlands city, where she shared the following decades with her partner Grete Bermbach. Grete and Lisel’s relationship will now be properly recognised after an archive, donated to Birmingham Central Library in the 1980s, was finally catalogued.
A major exhibition at the Library of Birmingham reveals the incredible full story of Lisel Haas, from the successful career she built as a photographer in Germany before the Nazi regime forced her to flee, to rebuilding her life with her partner Grete in Birmingham.
Discovering Lisel Haas, brings together Haas’s portraits, theatre photography and personal materials, including family memories, to give a clear and affectionate account of the two women’s shared life.
Haas (1898–1989) had established her own studio in Mönchengladbach and was working in portraiture, theatre photography and photojournalism before Nazi persecution forced her to leave Germany in 1938. Among the photographs in the exhibition is her portrait of German singer and actress Lale Andersen, who later became internationally known for Lili Marleen.
After leaving Germany, she settled in Birmingham and began again. Grete joined her in Britain in 1939 and the two women went on to live and work together in the Birmingham suburb of Moseley for decades, running the Lisel Haas photographic studio from their home, where generations of Birmingham families went to have their portraits taken. As well as the exhibition of her work at the library, later this year, the house where Lisel and Grete lived and ran the studio will receive a blue plaque, in recognition of its history.
Lisel and Grete’s relationship is recalled in a family memoir by Francesca Skelton, Grete’s great-niece and Lisel’s goddaughter. Francesca writes that Grete left Germany “to join her partner Lisel” and describes both women as “central to our lives.”
Francesca added: “I loved Grete and Lisel, their house and garden and their beautiful cat, Meiken. It felt safe and welcoming.”
In Birmingham, Lisel became a favourite photographer of Birmingham Repertory Theatre, working with stars including Albert Finney and Sir Derek Jacobi. She photographed the theatre’s productions and performers for more than 20 years. Her photographs remain on display on a staircase at the Rep, although the photographer behind them has not always received the wider recognition, until now.
Iris Bertz, of Bertz Associates, which is leading the project in partnership with the Library of Birmingham, said: “Lisel’s story deserves to be seen in full. She was an established photographer in Germany, a refugee forced to begin again and an important figure in Birmingham’s photographic and cultural life.
“She also shared her home, work and family life with Grete for decades. That relationship was understood by the people closest to them and is an important part of who Lisel was.
“The exhibition allows us to bring those parts of her life together and present a much fuller account of both the photographer and the woman.”
The exhibition, which is now open, draws on Haas’s archive at the Library of Birmingham, which contains 258 boxes of photographs, negatives, letters, documents and personal material.
The collection is now being formally catalogued, with local groups including Pink Sou’westers, an LGBTQ+ social group for people aged 40 and over, Luna, a women and non-binary photography network, and Dolphin Women’s Centre contributing to its interpretation.
New work responding to the archive by Anu Gamanagari, Gibson Kochanek Studio, George Eksts, Laura Chen and Rebecca Orleans is also included in the exhibition. The project is led by Bertz Associates in partnership with the Library of Birmingham and is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, The National Archives’ Archives Revealed programme and the John Feeney Charitable Trust, with additional support from the University of Birmingham and Deutsche Bank.
Discovering Lisel Haas runs at the Library of Birmingham until Saturday 12 December 2026. Admission is free.
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