1936 – German warships create a light spectacle at night in Kiel, Germany. Photo: Julius Simonsen
The story behind the image
A while ago I acquired this postcard that was sent in 1936. At that time, Germany had been taken over by the national socialsts who were following a clear path towards warfare. They had massively increased the military spend and did everything to present the troops in a positive light, underlining the power of the country.
This image shows an impressive light spectacle, created by the strong search lights of the warships moored in the harbour of Kiel in Germany. This event must have been quite a sight, and clearly, it appears to be harmless – a beautiful spectacle. In fact it was just another propaganda item to subtly support the deadly plans of the regime. One indicator of how well this propaganda had worked is the joyous greeting ‘A-Hoi’, written by the sender of the postcard in thin, large letters across the image. (I carefully removed this to restore the original image.)
Sadly, I cannot really say where the image was taken exactly. It could be either from today’s Kiellinie (formerly Hindenburgufer) towards Ellerbek and Gaarden, or the opposite direction, from the wharf in Gaarden and Ellerbek towards the north west. There are not many high viewpoints along the water.
The photographer did an excellent job of capturing the scene using a long exposure setting. A clear sign for this is the lack of details on the surface of the sea. Also, some of the smaller boats show motion blur despite being moored.
Photographer Julius Simonsen was born in 1876 in a small town between Schleswig and Flensburg. A son of a butcher, he originally was trained to become a merchant but decided to move into the photo business at the age of 20. He joined the studio of L. Christensen in Oldenburg in Holstein and acquired the business just four years later, in 1899. During his lifetime, Simonsen photographed all the beautiful spots in northern Germany and sold his images as postcards under the label Kunstverlag Julius Simonsen.
Nikolaus Julius Simonsen died on the 29th October 1943 in Oldenburg in Holstein at the age of 67. His son Hans Julius continued the family business after his death.
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1936 |
| Photographer | Julius Simonsen |
| Location | Kiel, Germany |
| Image Source | 14 x 9 cm postcard |
| Digital Image Source | EPSON Perfection 4870 Photo |
| Digital Image Source Format | TIFF, 48 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Format | JPEG, 24 bits/pixel, sRGB |
| Edited Image Dimensions | 6313 x 3786 Pixels |
| Copyright | © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Julius Simonsen |
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