UNDATED – A motorized excursion boat at the pier of the Hotel Dieksee in Gremsmühlen in Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Julius Simonsen
The story behind the image
This undated historic postcard image shows an early motorized excursion boat at the pier of the Hotel Dieksee in Gremsmühlen. Four passengers – three ladies and one gentleman – have already been seated, while two further gentlemen seem to wait for boarding.
The boat is most likely the Elisabeth which was the first motorized boat of the Five-Lakes-Tour (“5-Seen-Fahrt” in German) that included lake Dieksee. It could take up to 40 passengers and had been used as an excursion boat since 1892. Read all about the history of this fabulous tour at the official site (in German.)
I estimate the image to have been created between 1905 and 1910, because it the postcard already provides a space on the back for handwritten notes (next to the address). This was introduced in 1905. By 1911, however, new boats were launched that could take up to 80 passengers, but a smaller boat is shown on the photo.
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The photographer of this image is Julius Simonsen. He 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.
Nikolaus Julius Simonsen 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 | unknown, c. 1905 |
| Photographer | Julius Simonsen |
| Location | Gremsmühlen, 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 | 6603 x 4206 Pixels |
| Copyright | © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Julius Simonsen |
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