Hermann Tietz

  

I don't often have enough to go on to research my photos, but every once in a while.   Take a look at the top of the print, and the name "HERMANN TIETZ" can be seen.  Hermann Tietz was a German-Jewish businessman.  He was born in 1837 and died in 1907.  He and his brothers, Oskar, and Leonard founded a chain of department stores in Germany.  In 1900, the largest store in the chain was opened in Berlin. In 1934, all Tietz holdings, both department stores and factories were Aryanized and a forced sale was made to rival Georg Karg, who rebranded the stores as Hertie Department Stores. 

The words (at least the second and third word) on the bus in the foreground translate as 
Stranger Tours.  Special tours for first-time visitors to Berlin, perhaps. 

The Imperial Oak

  

There are some squiggly lines written on the back of the print that I assume are words, but they're so indistinct that I'm not even going to try and translate.  There is, however, a printer's stamp that's quite easy to understand. "Foto-Thiele m h922 a.d. Kaisereiche" And not one, but two dates.  The handwritten one, "6-7-55."  And the stamped one, "24.6.55" So, processed June 24, 1955, but dated July 6, 1955?  It makes me think this woman might be an American living in Germany.  The stamp is in the European style, with the date before the month, while the handwritten date, in the American style, so actually June 6, 1955, the date the photo was actually taken.  In 1955 there was still a lot of American military and diplomatic personnel living in Germany.   So, why the title?  Well, I assumed that Kaisereiche was a street somewhere in Germany.  I did a quick internet search and discovered that it's a district in Berlin named for an oak tree planted by German nobility that still survives to this day. 

Sideburns

 

Not a good look from the past.  The seventies would be my guess.  There's a very faded lab stamp on the back.  The only thing I can make out is Berlin.  

Germans Hanging Out

 

There's a stamp on the back, mostly faded, but I can make out Eichwalde which is a suburb of Berlin in the Brandenburg area.  There's also a date, "3-21/71."  At least I assume it's a date and the man's haircut looks like it's from the right period.  They must have lived near the wall.  Of course, I guess everyone in the Berlin area lived near the wall.  

Germans Enjoying Themselves

My mother was an English war bride who hated Germans.  I was going to write some of the things she used to say about Germany and Germans, but then I got to thinking, that was along time ago, and as there are fewer and fewer living World War 2 vets, there are also fewer and fewer living Nazis in the world.  I think I'm going to spend my time worrying about the alt-right in the United States instead.

Anyway, this one's a real photo postcard from, I assume, West Berlin.  There's a printer's credit on the back, "Foto-Dienst LEPPIN-Berlin 1 Berlin 30, Moizstr. 68, Ruf 246192."  Also, written on the back, "Bune."  I'm guessing that's a name.

The German Girl

Stamped on the back, "PGH FTW, 1034 Berlin"

I don't know why, but I have a lot of pictures from Germany in my collection.  I don't search out German photos, and while I'm a great fan of German silent movies, and German expressionist art,  I'm not especially in love with the country.  Perhaps it's because the Germans like to take pictures, they have made some great cameras, so there are a lot of German photos out there to be had.  But why are so many of them in the United States?

Berlin

I've been saving these photos for today.  For those unaware, today is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.  After the war, Germany was divided into four major zones of occupation.  Soviet, French, British, and American.  Berlin, Germany's capitol, while within the Soviet zone, was also divided among the four powers.  Until 1949, the zones were ruled by military governors.  From 1949 until 1955, civilian High Commissioners.

Take a look at the soldier's shoulder patch, (I needed a magnifying glass, you might have  to click on the image for a bigger window.) to see the word, "Berlin."  Until 1961, U.S. troops in the capitol were known as the Berlin Brigade, after 1961, when construction of the wall began, U.S. Army, Berlin. American troops left Berlin in 1994, after Soviet troops left East Germany. I looked up the insignias, and they're almost identical.  I'm fairly certain, that our soldier is Berlin Brigade, although I'm basing that on the women's clothing.

Now for the fun part.  When the occupation began, it was decided that fraternization between occupying troops and German civilians would not be permitted.  That policy lasted less than a year.  Basically, it was unenforceable.  Single men, single women, the inevitable happened. Go to my Fair Use blog-www.fairuse-wjy.blogspot.com-to see a U.S. Army anti-fraternization poster.

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest has begun.  Yes, I know, it's September, but remember, Oktoberfest is a 16 day festival dedicated to drinking beer, and that explains a lot.  Anyway, this photo is not from Oktoberfest, but it's Germans drinking beer, so it's the best I can do.

Stamped on the back, "PHOTO-DARTSCH, Berlin SW 29, Kattbusser Damm 13"  It's dated 1939, the first year of the war.

The Gothic Horror Hair Bow

I don't know about anyone else, but I associate that hair bow with twelve year old girls, not adult women.  That alone makes this image kind of odd, throw in the leafless trees and shadows, and it all seems rather creepy.  I don't know why, but it reminds me of Nosferatu.  The silent version directed by F.W. Murnau, not the surprisingly good Werner Herzog remake.

Stamped on the back, "H. POGADE, NEUKOLLN 50"  Neukollon, with two dots above the "O" is a neighborhood in Berlin.  It took a bit of web surfing, but I was able to find a reference to a Pogade Camera Store, in Berlin,  that dates back to, at least, the mid thirties.  There's a watermark on the back, "Agfa Lupex" that wasn't used before the mid forties, so 50 might be a year.