1912 – The historic St. Jürgen church and the houses of Grube i. Holstein, seen from the North West. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Julius Simonsen
The story behind the image
Here is a rare photo from 1912, shot by German photographer Julius Simonsen. It is rare because it is a large photo print (17 x 12 cm) and has a superb quality that goes far beyond postcard prints of that period.
What’s more, it shows the village of Grube in Holstein almost untouched by modern life. Two cows graze on an (untidy) field. Several houses look like they’re cuddling next to the church St. Jürgen that dates back to the 13th century and features a fantastic interior. My 5x great grandmother was baptized there in 1746, and it is quite likely that the view was very similar to the view captured by Julius Simonsen 166 years later.
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 printed and sold the postcards under the label Kunstverlag Julius Simonsen.
He died on the 29th October 1943 in Oldenburg at the age of 67. His stunning work will continue to live in the photo archives forever, showing the beauty of a world that has significantly changed since then.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 1912 |
| Photographer | Julius Simonsen |
| Location | Grube i. Holstein, Germany |
| Image Source | 17 x 12.4 photo print |
| 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 | 8033 x 5585 Pixels |
| Copyright | © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Julius Simonsen |
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