What happened in Germany well before Diane A. got her first camera

I was shown some of A.Sander's photographs the other day and loved them straightaway. I think the intensity with which I looked at his photos was comparable to my admiration for Diane Arbus's art. Thanks to her, I developed an eye for portrait photography. I just love portraits. Now it turns out that Sander started all this. Or, was there anyone else even before him who believed in this preciseness of portrait photography? I don't know. I only know that Sander's portraits make me want to know more about the characters. They are simple, yet almost exaggerated in their simplicity.

I look at the characters portrayed and they all seem to be freakishly curious. I wish I could follow them to their places, see where they live, what they do, how they walk, what their voices sound like. These are not only images of different people who happened to live in Sander's times. These are portraits or real people who existed for real. I don't know why, but it is sometimes difficult to realise this fully. 

The photos were taken from the following sites:

www.photobucket.com

www.amber-online.com

www.vingtparismagazine.com