Title
1910s Germany Berlin Unter den Linden Friedrich Statue University Opera Postcard
Front Description
A colour-tinted collotype postcard printed on cream card stock, horizontal format, the colour applied by hand-tinting or chromolithographic overlay over a monochrome photographic base in soft pastel shades of blue, green, ochre and rose.
The view looks along Unter den Linden, Berlin’s principal ceremonial boulevard, from an elevated vantage point, beneath a pale blue sky with a single white cloud shading to rose at the horizon.
At the left stands a substantial neoclassical building in warm ochre and brown stone, with tall arched windows, a rusticated ground floor, a heavy cornice and a low pitched roof surmounted by chimney stacks, flagpoles and a dark sculptural eagle finial. Ivy or creeper covers part of its lower storey, and a low iron railing with a bed of red flowers runs along the front at the lower left.
Running diagonally through the centre is the broad expanse of the boulevard itself, laid in pale paving and roadway, with the central promenade of mature linden trees in full dark green leaf receding into the distance at the left of centre. Ornate cast-iron lamp standards with globe lanterns stand at intervals, together with a Litfaßsäule advertising column.
At the centre stands the celebrated equestrian monument to Frederick the Great — the Reiterstandbild Friedrichs des Großen by Christian Daniel Rauch — the gilded bronze figure of the king mounted on horseback atop a tall pedestal of red-brown granite ornamented with sculptural reliefs and figures, set within a railed enclosure on a paved island.
To the right rise the great public buildings of the avenue: a long classical range with a giant order of engaged columns and pilasters, a pedimented centrepiece and a large dark dome — the Royal Library or Kommode — with further ranges of pale stone buildings extending to the right edge, their regular ranks of tall windows, projecting cornices and rooftop statuary clearly rendered. Flagpoles rise from the rooflines.
The streets and pavements are populated with numerous small figures in the dress of the period: men in dark suits and hats, women in long skirts and coats, a policeman, children, and a cyclist. Horse-drawn carriages and carts are visible, including a covered wagon at the left and a light open carriage at the centre, together with a hand-cart and a dog.
Printed at the upper left in red type, in two lines: Berlin / Unter den Linden
The card shows heavy wear consistent with age: overall toning, extensive edge chipping and loss along the upper and lower edges, a diagonal crease and tear at the upper right corner, surface crazing across the printed area, and general handling wear.
Back Description
Divided-back postcard reverse, printed in black 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 dashed rule.
Right-hand side: four dashed address lines.
Lower left, a printed publisher’s trademark: a stylised triangular device containing intertwined initials, with beneath it the catalogue reference: d A 4918
At the foot of the dividing rule, the printed numeral: 2
No message, address, stamp, postmark or handwritten text is present — the card is unused and postally unwritten. The paper shows overall cream toning with scattered pale orange-brown foxing, creasing at the upper left corner, a small split at the top edge, and general wear and softening to the edges and corners.
Estimated Era
Circa 1910–1920.
The dating rests on several converging lines of evidence. The view shows Unter den Linden in its imperial and early Weimar-era condition: the roadway carries only horse-drawn traffic, with no motor vehicles visible, and the dress of the pedestrians — long skirts and coats for women, dark suits and hats for men — is consistent with the 1910s.
The buildings shown are the great institutions of the avenue as they stood before the destruction of the Second World War: the Royal Library with its distinctive dome, the Humboldt University (then the Friedrich Wilhelm University), and the Staatsoper range. Rauch’s equestrian monument to Frederick the Great, unveiled in 1851, stands in its original position at the centre of the avenue, where it remained until removed for safety in 1950.
Supporting evidence includes the divided-back format with dashed address lines, the colour-tinted collotype printing over a monochrome base characteristic of German view cards of the 1910s, and the publisher’s trademark device with catalogue number typical of the period.
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