c. 1958 – Tourists roam the Marktplatz in Meersburg, Germany, with its historic Hotel Bären (left) and the city portal (back) that leads to the upper city. Scan © Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com
The story behind the image
I acquired this image a while ago. It shows the Marktplatz in Meersburg at Lake Constance in Germany around 1958 – an early development of tourism after the terrible Second World War.
Several interesting observations:
- The Hotel Bären (on the left) was first mentioned in 1456 (as a bar). It is still open today, owned and operated by the families Keller, Karrer, and Gilowsky, since 1851. The building had been completely renovated from 1952 to 1954, so this image most likely does already show the renovated building.
- The city portal with its clock tower still exists at the time of writing.
- There are several cars visible, three of them being Volkswagen Beetles, the most popular car in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s.
Funnily enough, I shot a very similar image when we visited Meersburg in 2021. Gone is the car traffic (as the area is restricted), but the Hotel Bären looks quite attractive with the flower boxes and the tables on the outside.
The high resolution image
| Photographer | anonymous |
| Capture Date | 1958 |
| Location | Meersburg, Germany |
| Image Source | 35 mm color slide film |
| 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 | 4412 x 6097 Pixels |
| Copyright | Scan & Edit © by Mark Zanzig/zanzig.com |
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