UNDATED – A man and a woman pose for a portrait in a photo studio in Kiel, Germany. Photo: Georg Billström
The story behind the image
This Carte de Visite (or short CdV) photo shows an unknown couple. The image was taken around 1900 in Kiel in Germany by the popular local photographer Georg Billström. The date can be deducted from the address shown on the front which says Vorstadt 9 – Atelier im Garten. Since 1890, Billström’s studio had been at Holstenstraße 22 but in 1897 he had moved further down the street to Vorstadt 9. This street was just a prolongation of the Holstenstraße and disappeared in 1901 when it was integrated into Holstenstraße. So, any Billström photos showing the address Vorstadt 9 must have been shot between 1897 and 1901.
This CdV is special, because handwritten notes on the back apparently did name the people at some point in time – but have been crossed out later:
I could de-cipher the handwriting in blue as:
Prutzer
Ida + Gustav
Wehling
Bruder von Julius
Wehling
Now, of course, the big question is – why have the notes been crossed out? Was it because the author realized that he made a mistake? Was it because someone else found the information to be wrong? Or was it just to protect the data before the image was sold? It’s hard to say. I tend to believe it’s a means of data protection, because in my experience handwritten notes on antique images have usually been applied by people who were quite close to the facts, and so the information was correct, at least in parts.
So, if we assume that the original information was correct, the name of the lady was Ida Prutzer, and the gentleman was her husband, Gustav Wehling, who must have had a brother called Julius.
A quick search revealed that an Ida Wehling actually lived in 1940 in Kiel, and (probably the same) Ida Sophia Margaretha died in Kiel on the 19th November 1964. I could not find a Gustav Wehling in Kiel though.
Anyway, I like their image.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1900 |
| Photographer | Georg Billström |
| Location | Kiel, Germany |
| Image Source | Albumen print from a glass negative, mounted to cardboard, cabinet format (c. 6 x 8.8 cm) |
| 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 | 5635 x 8333 Pixels |
| Copyright | © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Georg Billström |
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