View of shipyard

The acceleration of industrial development in Szczecin, which took place in the second half of the 19th century, was reflected in art. It became an inspiration for artists, and a response to the needs of advertising, information and technical publications. Works created at that time showed industrial plants, their layout, form and size. Such a composition was, among others, a coloured woodcut by Willie Stöwer (1864-1931) and Gustav Adolf Rau (1847-?) from around 1870 showing the Szczecin shipyard Vulcan. W. Stöwer was a German illustrator, painter and writer. He worked as a technician in the engineering offices of German shipyards. He was a prolific artist, creating hundreds of illustrations for books, posters, postcards, brochures and calendars. He was best known for his marine paintings and lithographs. Many of his works depicted historical maritime events, such as the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. An illustration created shortly after the disaster, despite minor factual errors, brought him great popularity and is still printed today. G. Rau was a German wood engraver, illustrator, portrait and landscape artist. Between 1871 and 1891, he did illustrations for Jacob Weber's biweekly Das Büch für Alle. Illustierte Zeitschrift, published by the Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft. He was also an illustrator for the magazine Über Land und Meer. The composition with the shipyard Vulcan depicts the popular motif of an industrial panorama advertising the production and technical capabilities of the first civilian Prussian shipyard, founded in 1851 in the Szczecin district of Drzetowo (Bredow) on the Oder River, which carried out an order from Kriegsmarine to build a battleship.

Małgorzata Peszko