An undated stereo card shows the Hotel Dieksee in Gremsmühlen, Germany. Photo © Alb. Giesler
The story behind the image
Here is another historic photo of Malente-Gremsmühlen in Germany, shot by photo pioneer Albert Giesler. It shows a stereoscopic view across the Hotel Dieksee (in the front), the Pension Bucheneck with its impressive tower (right behind) and the promenade at lake Dieksee (on the right.) The print is undated and does not carry any written capture date.
However, Giesler was pretty busy capturing views of the area in the late 19th century. He sold the images as photo prints and postcards. He was one of the very few photographers who adopted the stereoscope technique and had created a portfolio of pictures that are quite unique today informing us about the three-dimensional look of the locations he captured. Learn more about stereo photography at Wikipedia.
The Hotel Dieksee still operates today. It was built in 1878/79 and opened its doors originally as Hotel Hoffnung (literally Hotel Hope) and got renamed only a year later to its current name, Hotel Dieksee. Its location directly at the promenade that has always been a tourist magnet for Malente-Gremsmühlen.
This photo is part of a series of stereo photos by Albert Giesler that show the wider surroundings of his hometown Eutin where he had been operating a popular studio since 1886. He visited hotels and restaurants to capture images for prints, postcards and for promotional shots, but also captured landscapes, people, and events in the area.
Most likely, this image was shot in or before 1895, because I found one postcard sent in May 1895 showing almost exactly the same angle Minor details like the curtains and windows were different, so it was not exactly the same image.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | c. 1895 |
| Photographer | Alb. Giesler |
| Location | Malente-Gremsmühlen, Germany |
| Image Source | 2 x black-and-white albumen prints mounted to 8.8 x 18 cm solid cardboard with photographer mark |
| 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 | 16989 x 8263 Pixels |
| Copyright | Photo © by Alb.Giesler, Scan by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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