1927 – The bay of the Dieksee at Malente-Gremsmühlen in Germany. © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Julius Simonsen
The story behind the image
This postcard sent in August 1927 shows the lovely bay of lake Dieksee near Malente-Gremsmühlen in Germany. An excursion boat of the Five-Lakes-Tour (“5-Seen-Fahrt” in German) has been tied to a pier on the opposite side. Read all about the history of this fabulous tour at the official site (in German.)
The print quality is exceptional despite having been sent as a postcard. I guess that’s because this is a ‘true photo’ print probably done by the photographer himself, Julius Simonsen, in his studio in Oldenburg in Holstein.
In general, such prints show well balanced exposure and are pretty sharp as there were just very few intermediate steps to get from the original negative plate to the final print. The image probably had been taken earlier in 1927 so we get a nice impression of the state of this location in that year.
Which is lovely.
Even more so, when you consider the significant changes to this place since then. Back in 1973, a brand new 12-story hotel changed the view forever. Today it feels like a really bad match for a sleepy tourist town like Malente-Gremsmühlen. Back in the early 1970s, however, tourism changed dramatically with massive competition coming from southern Europe, especially from Spain. So, it was probably a very rational decision to approve the hotel project. The hotel has been closed a while ago and is now waiting for better times. Some of the rooms have been modernized and sold as holiday appartments. (Here’s an insider report covering the building, and how it presented itself in 2019, in German.)
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The photographer of this image was 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 | 1927 |
| Photographer | Julius Simonsen |
| Location | Melente-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 | 6283 x 3935 Pixels |
| Copyright | © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com/Photo: Julius Simonsen |
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