1905 – The yawl Therese takes a turn during a race near Kiel in Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin-Steglitz
The story behind the image
As you may know, I am from Kiel in Germany, a city with a long maritime history. Sailing has always been an essential activity here, for centuries, and for several years, the city of Kiel has been successfully using the marketing claim Kiel Sailing City. So I was really glad to acquire this historic postcard of a sailing race near Kiel. It is likely that it was shot during Kiel Week in 1905, but there is no caption that confirms this guess.
The picture shows the sailing yacht Therese while taking a turn. The yacht is a so-called Yawl or a 1½ mast yacht. That’s because the mizzenmast is typically just half the size of the main mast. The large sails and relatively short waterline makes this type pretty fast. And if there’s decent wind the ships will tilt significantly. This is visible in the photo by looking at the yachts that are ahead of the Therese already, heading for the open Baltic Sea. If you want to dive into the exciting times of early modern yachting, take a look at this website. (The Therese is mentioned several times as well.)
The photographer is unknown, but the image has been published by Neue Photographische Gesellschaft in Berlin-Steglitz in 1905. This widely unknown company had serious impact on streamlining photo processing by providing a way to print images on rolls of paper instead of single sheets, enabling mass printing of postcards and photos. There’s a good website covering the history of the company (in German.)
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 1905 |
| Photographer | unknown |
| Publisher | Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin-Steglitz |
| Publisher ID | 502/4 |
| Location | Kiel, Germany |
| Image Source | 13.8 x 8.7 cm postcard image |
| 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 | 6501 x 4103 Pixels |
| Copyright | © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, Berlin-Steglitz |
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