[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 2]
[House]
[Pages 2680-2681]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING VOLKMAR WENTZEL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mollohan) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. MOLLOHAN. Mr. Speaker, on Friday evening, the German Embassy here 
in Washington will pay tribute to a man of extraordinary talent, a 
native son whose artistry with a camera has opened the eyes the world 
over.
  Today I rise to salute this remarkable gentleman and his 
distinguished career. Volkmar Wentzel had an unusual introduction to 
photography. His father was a photochemist and built a darkroom at the 
family home in Dresden. He would send his boys there when they 
misbehaved. One day young Volkmar happened to hit the switch that 
turned on the red inspection light. There in the darkroom he saw the 
magic of photography for the very first time.
  When he was 9, he and his father built a pinhole camera. It was 
another defining experience. In his words, ``My camera became the 
passport to a fascinating life.'' Two years later the Wentzels left 
Germany, escaping the turmoil that followed World War I. They started a 
new life here in America, in New York.
  As a young man, Volkmar set off in search of adventure, but his grand 
vision to travel to South America stalled in Washington, D.C. By 
chance, he made new friends who steered to him to Aurora, West 
Virginia. A colony called the Youghiogheny Forest had been started 
there by a mix of artists, musicians, writers, doctors and others. It 
is where they spent slow periods during the Great Depression. They 
hired Volkmar to look after their property and studios. To our great 
pride, that is

[[Page 2681]]

where his career began, in the mountains of Preston County.
  The first images he captured were the breathtaking beauty of the 
countryside. Soon he focused his lens on the people. He gave farm 
families pictures of their children in exchange for vegetables from 
their gardens.
  One day Eleanor Roosevelt stopped in Aurora for lunch. She was on a 
trip to Arthurdale, a New Deal Homestead community that she had taken 
under her wing. The First Lady bought a few of the postcards Volkmar 
had made. The real profit was not the price she paid, rather, it was 
the encouragement that Volkmar felt.
  He was inspired to come back to Washington to pursue a professional 
career, and what an amazing career it has been.
  I am sure that many of my colleagues have been dazzled by his book, 
``Washington by Night.'' It gives a dramatically different view of the 
city's best known landmarks. Even today, more than 60 years after he 
captured those images, they still enhance our sense of wonder.
  The same is certainly true of Volkmar's long and distinguished career 
with the National Geographic. From the Himalayas to Newfoundland, his 
work gave us rich new perspectives, and new understanding, of the world 
around us. And that is what makes him such a compelling artist. His 
keen eye, his technical skill, his respectful nature, his gracious 
manner, all of these things are evident in every photograph he takes.
  Of course I have a special affinity for his award-winning work in 
West Virginia, and I am always proud to tell people that Volkmar and 
his wife, Viola, consider Aurora to be their home and are active in the 
local historical society.
  The Wentzels recently celebrated his 90th birthday at their 
Washington residence. Tomorrow's reception will allow his friends and 
admirers to mark the happy occasion and to salute the work of this 
outstanding talent and true gentleman.

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