1929 – The sun sets over the ships enclosed by ice on the Kieler Förde in Germany. Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
The winter 1928/29 was extremely cold, an ‘icy winter’. In fact, it was so cold that large portions of the Baltic Sea were frozen all over, including the Kieler Förde – that’s the arm of the Baltic Sea that leads into Kiel, Germany – and the canal that connects Kiel to the North Sea. Numerous ships were enclosed by thick ice and had to to wait until it was melting again.
This original photo print is part of a small series and another real gem from this period. The sun sets in the distance, and people stand and walk on the ice next to the ships. Even kids are pulled on their sleighs across the ice. So everyone must have been convinced that the ice would carry them.
In total, there were more than 1,000 sailors on more than 60 ships captured by the ice. All these people needed food and drinks, and for the local merchants this meant big business.
Bert Morio of apt-holtenau.de has the full story (in German).
The official site kiel.de also features a detailed write-up (in German.)
Of course, I will be sharing further images from the series over time. Please stay tuned.
Design ideas
The high resolution image
| Capture Date | 1929 |
| Photographer | unknown |
| Location | Kiel, Germany |
| Image Source | Photo print, 4.5 x 7.5 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 | 7281 x 4428 Pixels |
| Copyright | © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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