Germany

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Isle of Rugen, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Isle of Rugen, Germany (1890s)

After the death of the last Slav prince, Wizlaw III, in 1325, the principality was acquired by Pomerania-Wolgast as a consequence of the 1321 inheritance agreement (Erbverbrüderung), and from 1368/72–1451 was part of the estate of a branch line, the House of Barth. This state of affairs, together with the disputes over the Danish throne that occurred at that time,…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz), Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Bromberg (Bydgoszcz), Germany (1890s)

In 1772, in the First Partition of Poland, the town was acquired by the Kingdom of Prussia as Bromberg and incorporated into the Netze District in the newly established province of West Prussia. At the time, the town was seriously depressed and semi-derelict. Under Frederick the Great the town revived, notably with the construction of a canal from Bromberg to…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Riesengebirge, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of the Riesengebirge, Germany (1890s)

The modern names of Krkonoše (Czech), Riesengebirge (German) and Karkonosze (Polish) became widely accepted only in the 19th century. The range is also often referred to in English as the “Giant Mountains”. The Czech name “Krkonoše” is first mentioned (in the singular, as “Krkonoš”) in a 1492 record of the division of the Manor of Štěpanice into two parts. The…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Westphalia, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Westphalia, Germany (1890s)

After the defeat of the Prussian Army by the French at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 made the easternmost portion of today’s Westphalia part of the French client Kingdom of Westphalia until 1813, when the kingdom was dissolved by the Russians. While this state shared its name with the historical region, it only contained a…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Marienburg (Malbork), Prussia (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Marienburg (Malbork), Prussia (1890s)

It was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in the First Partition of Poland in 1772 and became part of the newly established Province of West Prussia the following year. Prussians liquidated the municipal government and replaced it with new Prussian-appointed administration. In the early 19th century, Prussian authorities acknowledged the town’s Polish-speaking community, ensuring that priests could deliver the…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Stettin, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Stettin, Germany (1890s)

Stettin developed into a major Prussian port and became part of the German Empire in 1871. While most of the province retained its agrarian character, Stettin was industrialised, and its population rose from 27,000 in 1813 to 210,000 in 1900 and 255,500 in 1925. Major industries that flourished in Stettin from 1840 were shipbuilding, chemical and food industries, and machinery…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hartz, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hartz, Germany (1890s)

As a young man, the famous German poet, Goethe visited the Harz several times and had a number of important lifetime experiences. These included his walks on the Brocken and his visit to the mines in Rammelsberg. Later, his observations of the rocks on the Brocken led to his geological research. His first visit to the Harz awakened in him…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Wernigerode, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Wernigerode, Germany (1890s)

Wernigerode was the capital of the medieval County of Wernigerode and Stolberg-Wernigerode. In 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars, it became part of the Prussian Province of Saxony. The Hasseröder brewery was founded in Wernigerode in 1872. After World War II, Wernigerode was included in the new state Saxony-Anhalt within the Soviet occupation zone (relaunched in October 1949 as the German…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Pomerania, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Pomerania, Germany (1890s)

Prussia gained the southern parts of Swedish Pomerania in 1720, invaded and annexed Pomerelia from Poland in 1772 and 1793, and gained the remainder of Swedish Pomerania in 1815, after the Napoleonic Wars. The former Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania and the former Swedish parts were reorganized into the Prussian Province of Pomerania, while Pomerelia was made part of the Province of West…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Towns in Bavaria, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Towns in Bavaria, Germany (1890s)

When Bavaria became part of the newly formed German Empire, this action was considered controversial by Bavarian nationalists who had wanted to retain independence from the rest of Germany, as had Austria. As Bavaria had a heavily Catholic majority population, many people resented being ruled by the mostly Protestant northerners of Prussia. As a direct result of the Bavarian-Prussian feud,…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Harz, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Harz, Germany (1890s)

Around 1800, large swathes of the Harz were deforested. The less resistant spruce monoculture, that arose as a consequence of the mining industry in the Upper Harz, was largely destroyed by a bark beetle outbreak and a storm of hurricane proportions in November 1800. This largest known bark beetle infestation in the Harz was known as the Große Wurmtrocknis, and…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Thuringia, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Thuringia, Germany (1890s)

The modern German black-red-gold tricolour flag’s first appearance anywhere in a German-ethnicity sovereign state, within what today comprises Germany, occurred in 1778 as the state flag of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, a defunct principality in the modern state’s borders. Some reordering of the Thuringian states occurred during the German Mediatisation from 1795 to 1814, and the territory was included within…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Helgoland, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Helgoland, Germany (1890s)

In 1826, Heligoland became a seaside spa and soon turned into a popular tourist resort for the European upper class. The island attracted artists and writers, especially from Germany and Austria who apparently enjoyed the comparatively liberal atmosphere, including Heinrich Heine and August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben. More vitally it was a refuge for revolutionaries of the 1830s and the…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany (1890s)

Contrary to the hopes of German Schleswig-Holsteiners, the area did not gain its independence, but was annexed as a province of Prussia in 1867. Also following the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, section five of the Peace of Prague stipulated that the people of Northern Schleswig would be consulted in a referendum on whether to remain under Prussian rule or return…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Anhalt, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Anhalt, Germany (1890s)

After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the remaining Anhalt divisions – Bernburg, Dessau and Köthen – were elevated to duchies by Napoleon while the Electorate of Saxony became a Kingdom; all were part of Napoleon’s Confederation of the Rhine until 1813. In 1813 the Kingdom of Prussia occupied large amounts of Saxony’s territory in the Battle…
Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Lubeck, Germany (1890s)

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Lubeck, Germany (1890s)

Humans settled in the area around what today is Lübeck after the last Ice Age ended about 9700 BCE. Lübeck is famous for having been the cradle and the de facto capital of the Hanseatic League. Its city centre is Germany’s most extensive UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the city’s symbol is the Holsten Gate, Lübeck’s skyline is dominated by…
Flying Train “Wuppertal Schwebebahn” in Germany, 1902

Flying Train “Wuppertal Schwebebahn” in Germany, 1902

Construction on the actual Schwebebahn began in 1898, overseen by the government’s master builder, Wilhelm Feldmann. On 24 October 1900, Emperor Wilhelm II participated in a monorail trial run. In 1901 the railway came into operation. It opened in sections: the line from Kluse to Zoo/Stadion opened on 1 March, the line to the western terminus at Vohwinkel opened on…