1910s Germany Berlin Kaiser Wilhelm Monument Denkmal Schlossfreiheit Postcard

Title
1910s Germany Berlin Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument Denkmal Schlossfreiheit Postcard

Front Description
A colour-tinted collotype postcard printed on cream card stock, horizontal format, the colour applied over a monochrome photographic base in shades of blue, green, terracotta and buff.

The view shows the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal — the National Monument to Emperor William I — on the Schlossfreiheit beside the Berlin Palace, beneath a sky graduating from deep blue at the top to warm rose at the horizon.

Dominating the centre is the great bronze equestrian statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, rendered in verdigris green, the Emperor in military uniform and cloak mounted on a walking horse, with a winged allegorical figure of Victory or Peace striding at the horse’s head holding the bridle. The group stands on a massive pedestal of red-brown stone richly ornamented with sculptural reliefs, allegorical figures and standing figures at the angles.

At the base of the monument, flanking the broad flight of steps, are colossal bronze lions rendered in dark brown — recumbent and rearing beasts set on projecting plinths, one at the left and one at the right, some shown trampling or grappling with captured trophies.

Enclosing the monument on three sides is a semicircular colonnade of pale stone with a giant order of columns, an entablature and a balustraded parapet. At the right, the colonnade terminates in a pavilion crowned by a bronze quadriga — a four-horse chariot group — with a further winged Victory figure on the corner. Further pale classical buildings extend to the right edge of the view, with a lamp standard before them.

The broad open square in the foreground is populated with figures in the dress of the period. At the left, horse-drawn carriages and a large omnibus or char-à-banc with passengers stand on the roadway, the drivers on their boxes. At the centre foreground, three young women in long pale summer dresses and wide-brimmed hats walk together, and a man in a light suit and green hat strolls past. At the right, two gentlemen ride on horseback, one on a dark horse and one on a white, both in dark riding coats and top hats, accompanied by a groom in green livery. Further pedestrians and a policeman are scattered across the square.

Printed across the upper area in dark type: BERLIN. — Denkmal Kaiser Friedrich.

Note: the printed caption is in error. The monument depicted is the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal, the national monument to Emperor William I, not a monument to Kaiser Friedrich. Such caption errors are not uncommon on commercial view cards of the period.

The card shows heavy wear consistent with age and postal use: overall toning, chipped corners at the upper left, upper right and lower right, edge chipping along all sides, scattered surface abrasion and small losses, and general handling wear.

Back Description
Divided-back postcard reverse, printed in orange-red on cream stock.

A vertical dividing rule runs down the centre of the card, separating the message area from the address panel.

Upper right, a stamp box outlined in a dotted rule, containing the printed instruction: SGHT. Note: this appears to be a printer’s rendering of the abbreviated German stamp-placement instruction.

Right-hand side: four dotted address lines, the third overlaid with a solid heavy rule.

Lower left, the publisher’s imprint and series reference: J. W. B. Serie Iris. No. 49

No message, address, stamp or postmark is present — the card is unused and postally unwritten. The paper shows overall cream toning with scattered pale foxing and fibre inclusions in the stock, chipped corners at the upper right and lower left, and general wear and softening to the edges.

Estimated Era
Circa 1905–1915.

The dating rests on several converging lines of evidence. The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Nationaldenkmal was designed by Reinhold Begas and inaugurated on 22 March 1897, on the centenary of the Emperor’s birth, occupying the Schlossfreiheit opposite the Berlin Palace. It was dismantled in 1950 by the East German authorities, so the view records a monument that no longer exists.

The dress of the figures — long pale summer dresses with wide-brimmed hats for the women, light suits and boaters or top hats for the men — together with the exclusively horse-drawn traffic and the absence of motor vehicles, points firmly to the years before the First World War, most probably between 1905 and 1912.

Supporting evidence includes the divided-back format, introduced in Germany from 1905, the colour-tinted collotype printing over a monochrome photographic base characteristic of German view cards of this period, and the publisher’s imprint of J. W. B. with the “Serie Iris” designation and number 49.

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