We have already touched upon the topic of beach fashion on postcards. One way or
another, the topic of one of the chapters of the new book "Samland.
Kranz and the Curonian Spit in Old Postcards" by
our old friend and,
part-time, collector of postcards (or is it the other way around?) Evgeny
Dvoretsky is close to it, fragments of which we would like to introduce you to.
The book itself can be purchased in bookstores in Kaliningrad and the region.
So, eroticism and humor on old postcards...
The beautiful half of humanity and the sea are a “just give it to me” theme for
friendly jokes of masters of the brush and camera. Let’s not forget that while
female artists occasionally met, a photographer has long been a strictly male
profession. There was no such word in the feminine gender in the German language
for a long time. So our brother left his mark… while remaining, however, within
the bounds of morality. And there are almost no postcards where men are
presented as objects of irony – one’s own hand is the master!
Even the names of the corners of the seaside resort of Cranz hint at easy
morals, and even flirtation, for example, the Bridge of Sighs and the Alley of
the Betrothed in the still existing - of course, under a different name - Park
Plantage, right behind the ladies' beach. Yes, Cranz is the evangelical North of
a Catholic country, but the cross on the church of St. Adalbert, which stood and
stands surrounded by Kirchenstrasse - Hohenzollernstrasse - Lutherstrasse -
Augustastrasse - high-high in the sky, and we, men and women, walk on sinful
earth ... How can there be no "protest against Protestantism", when physical
aspirations go against spiritual canons. The black and gilded Bible (an
obligatory attribute of a provincial hotel) dozes on the chest of drawers, and a
bright frivolous postcard - here it is, as if alive, in your hands. And also
with the printed motto “In memory of…”… then write in or remember whatever you
want.
Was there a house with red lanterns somewhere on the streets of Kranzev?
History, as they say, is silent. Of the tens of thousands of postcards from East
Prussia, the author knows only one, which depicts a brothel (this is the word,
and in Lithuanian — viesnamis). It was issued near the Memel region, in Tilsit
(now Sovetsk) — a city of soldiers and officers.
Well, our Kranz is a town of fishermen and vacationers. Warm, but not hot.
This
is how gracefully, with respect to the lady, with the formal "You", the artist
and publisher Rudolf Stolle (Rud. Stolle) depicted mermaids. Several paragraphs
in our publication are devoted to his work. Neukuhren - now the city of
Pionersky.
In
the game of waves. But surely the author of the drawing had a completely
different game in mind... did he depict himself at the top left? And again in
the foreground, hm... not faces. Who published it is unknown.
Ostseebad
Cranz – Stilleben im Damenbadе – The Baltic Sea resort of Cranz – tranquility on
the ladies’ beach. Yes, the anonymous photographer has a sense of humor, and
also courage: with a bulky photo tripod and on the ladies’ beach, where
gentlemen are not allowed! Sent from Cranz to Riga in August 1918.
Little
has changed in the last hundred years… Or even in 120: the lithograph has a
stamp on the back with the date September 1900. Text: Eine schöne Aussicht – a
beautiful view.
Who
would dare say that Madame came out of the dressing room in her sleeping
trousers? She was just going to go swimming! The postcard was sent in 1898 from
Kranz to Königsberg, published by MFK ( this
postcard collected the largest number of responses in the guest book of the
exhibition of Kranz postcards from the author's collection, held in 1996 in the
Kaliningrad Art Gallery. )
It’s
a completely different story: how much dignity and nobility there is in the
figure of the mysterious stranger, hiding her eyes under the shadow of a straw
hat... Gustav Nöthe from Cranz noted, July 1905.
And
here is a game, but not of a mischievous wave, but of a mischievous wind...
Published by J. Wollstein, Berlin.
Ostseebad
Cranz — Saisoneröffnung – Baltic Sea resort Cranz — opening of the season.
Everything that is natural… say the Russians. It turns out that the Germans
think the same way.
And
here is a play on words: die kleinen Schiffer can be translated as "little
skipper, boatman", or, if you don't mind, as "little pisser" (schiffen is a
crude synonym for "to go pee"). Published by SSB, didn't go through the mail.
An
ashtray with a picture of the Castle on the Sea hotel and a concert "shell":
where on the Baltic coast did the unknown sculptor of this thing see monkeys?
Obviously for fun. And §11 is a familiar thing: in a humorous unofficial set of
rules of conduct on holiday in German-speaking countries, this paragraph
prescribes "you can continue drinking". So much for a tipsy chimpanzee.
