Vintage silver print 19,3 x 29 cm (7.6 x 11.4 in)
Signed, annotated and dated by the photographer in ink on the reverse

Since 1957, the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer spent his holidays regularly in Cadenabbia on the shores of Lake Como – up to eight weeks a year during which political wheels, of course, did not stop turning. During these periods, Adenauer transformed his holiday domicile, Villa La Collina, into a second Bonn Chancellery; the sleepy village briefly turned into a centre of German politics, including flocks of reporters. Of course, there were also moments of recreation, for example at bocce, which Adenauer learned to play and love here. Hilmar Pabel visited the chancellor just before his retirement in September 1963 for the magazine Stern. During the 36-hour stay, he took a series of pictures in a relaxed atmosphere; the Chancellor’s diary lists a boat trip they took together, among other events.
Pabel’s photograph shows the 87-year-old in the villa’s garden, a solitary figure seen from the rear in front of the panorama of lake and mountains – a composition strongly reminiscent of Caspar David Friedrich. The “Old Man”, as Adenauer was called respectfully by friends and adversaries alike, blends seamlessly into the historical landscape of Lombardy, and one wonders involuntarily which events in his long political career he may be pondering. One month later, on October 15, 1963, Konrad Adenauer resigned as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. His next vacation on Lake Como was as a private citizen.