1901 – View across the Dieksee from Gremsmühlen near Eutin in Germany. © Mark Zanzig/Zanzig.com/Publisher: Louis Glaser
The story behind the image
Here is a lovely antique postcard sent in July 1901 that (once more) sheds a light on the early beginnings of tourism in Schleswig-Holstein, the northern-most state of Germany.
The image shows the bay of lake Dieksee in Gremsmühlen. It is a colorful print that provides an impression of how beautiful the place had been at the end of the 19th century.
The postcard was published by Louis Glaser from Leipzig who had become popular by producing postcards that appeared at first glance to be color photographs but were in fact just based upon real photographs taken at the respective locations by various photographers. These photos were then idealized by omitting distracting elements or adding desired elements. Finally they were printed as lithographs and sold as souvenirs or to send short greetings to friends and family.
The foundation for this postcard probably was a photo by Albert Giesler in 1897 (see first image below.) The similarities are quite obvious. The rowing boat. The position of the buildings on the left. The fence. The boat at the pier. It was not uncommon for local photographers to licence landscape images to larger publishers. Then again, maybe Louis Glaser was just “inspired” by the Giesler photograph? (I don’t think so.)
Anyway, the color image is quite remarkable as it looks more vivid than contemporary black and white images. What’s more, when comparing the development of the bay over the decades, you quickly realize that the touristic leaps ahead were enormous. In this case, between 1901 and 1910 the Park Hôtel would be built, replacing the two small villas in the top left corner as well as the pier which would be turned into a genuine pier to cater larger excursion boats. Several years later, the hotel was converted to a local wellness center for the tourists.
The trend towards sophistication found its sad peak in 1973, when a hotel group had the fabulous idea of replacing the wellness center by a 12-story concrete monster. Here’s an insider report covering that building, and how it presented itself in 2019 (in German.)
Most recently, an investor for the former hotel section went bankrupt and the future of that part of the building remains uncertain again.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Publishing Date | about 1900 |
| Publisher | Louis Glaser, Leipzig |
| Location | Gremsmühlen, Germany |
| Image Source | 9 x 14 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 | 6365 x 3923 Pixels |
| Copyright | Mark Zanzig/Zanzig.com/Publisher: Louis Glaser |
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