Vintage | MONOVISIONS - Black & White Photography Magazine

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Towns in Switzerland (1890s)

12 September 2024 0

In 1798, the revolutionary French government invaded Switzerland and imposed a new unified constitution. This centralised the government of the country, effectively abolishing the cantons: moreover, Mülhausen joined France and the Valtellina valley became part of the Cisalpine Republic, separating…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Hesse-Nassau, Germany (1890s)

17 August 2024 0

Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the previously independent Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), the Duchy of Nassau, the Free City of Frankfurt, areas gained from the Kingdom of Bavaria, and areas gained from…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Halle and Madgeburg, Saxony (1890s)

16 July 2024 0

Halle’s early history is connected with the harvesting of salt. The name of the river Saale contains the Germanic root for salt, and salt-harvesting has taken place in Halle since at least the Bronze Age (2300–600 BC). Magdeburg was annexed…

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

26 May 2024 0

After Napoleon imposed the Convention of Artlenburg (Convention of the Elbe) on 5 July 1803, about 35,000 French soldiers occupied Hanover. The Convention also required disbanding the army of Hanover. However, George III did not recognise the Convention of the…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Bolton Abbey, England (1890s)

30 April 2024 0

The monastery was founded at Embsay in 1120. Led by a prior, Bolton Abbey was technically a priory, despite its name. It was founded in 1154 by the Augustinian order, on the banks of the River Wharfe. The land at…

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

4 April 2024 0

The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is named after the margraves’ residence, Hohenbaden Castle in Baden-Baden. Hermann II of Baden first claimed the title of Margrave of Baden in 1112. A united Margraviate of Baden…

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

10 March 2024 0

After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative districts (Regierungsbezirke (singular Regierungsbezirk)), in Bavaria called (Kreise (singular Kreis)). They were created in the fashion of the French departements,…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Unterwald, Switzerland (1890s)

5 March 2024 0

The name Unterwalden is first recorded in 1304, as the translation of Latin inter silvas, which together with in intramontanis was the name for monastery possessions in the area. In 1291, Rudolf I of Germany purchased the estates at Stans,…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Schaffhausen, Switzerland (1890s)

22 December 2023 0

Schaffhausen was a city state in the Middle Ages, documented to have struck its own coins from 1045. About 1050 the counts of Nellenburg founded the Benedictine monastery of All Saints, which became the centre of the town. Perhaps as…

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

10 December 2023 0

In 1871, the newly created German Empire’s demand for Alsace from France after its victory in the Franco-Prussian War was not simply a punitive measure. The transfer was controversial even among the Germans: The German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, was…

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

25 November 2023 0

After the Thirty Years’ War, Nuremberg attempted to remain detached from external affairs, but contributions were demanded for the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War and restrictions of imports and exports deprived the city of many…

Vintage: SS Normandie

11 October 2023 0

The SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days,…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Lucerne, Switzerland (1890s)

9 September 2023 0

It was during the latter part of the 19th century that Lucerne became a popular destination for artists, royalty and others to escape to. The German composer Richard Wagner established a residence at Tribschen in 1866 from which he lived…

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

3 August 2023 0

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…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Towns in Wales (1890s)

10 July 2023 0

Prior to the industrial revolution in Wales there were small-scale industries scattered throughout Wales. These ranged from those connected to agriculture, such as milling and the manufacture of woollen textiles, through to mining and quarrying. Agriculture remained the dominant source…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Edinburgh, Scotland (1890s)

1 July 2023 0

Despite an enduring myth to the contrary, Edinburgh became an industrial centre with its traditional industries of printing, brewing and distilling continuing to grow in the 19th century and joined by new industries such as rubber works, engineering works and…

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

16 June 2023 0

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…

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

1 June 2023 0

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…

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

16 May 2023 0

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…

Vintage: Historic B&W photos of County Dublin, Ireland (1890s)

1 May 2023 0

Despite harsh penal laws and unfavourable trade restrictions imposed upon Ireland, Dublin flourished in the 18th century. The Georgian buildings which still define much of Dublin’s architectural landscape to this day were mostly built over a 50-year period spanning from…

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