Getting Around Old Wien part 3

 

 

The city's traffic was a mess.
Vehicles drove helter-skelter on the roadways.
Some lumbered along at a sluggish tempo
others darted about at breakneck speed.
Crossing a street could be dangerous to your health.
 

Life in past times may have moved at a slower pace
but it was no less chaotic than our modern times.
In old Wien one artist called it:

Die Fahrt nach dem Glück.
~
The Journey to Happiness.

Today I feature another series on the postcards

of Fritz Schönpflug (1873 – 1951),

a Viennese artist popular during the last decades

of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

He painted many lighthearted postcards

depicting the people and activities he observed

in his beloved city of Wien–Vienna.

The first postcard shows a busy street filled with horse-drawn carriages. It was never posted but Schönpflug's signature has the number 910 which corresponds to 1910 in the old manner of European dating. Though the automobile was beginning to appear on streets, Wien was still an old fashioned horse powered city.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The most common conveyance for getting around Wien
was the hired hackney coach called a Fiaker.
In this postcard Schönpflug depicts one
being pulled by a poor bony horse
with four jolly men who look like
they're celebrating a sporting event.
The caption reads:

Uns haben s' g'halten!
~
We've got it!

 

 I believe the German is written in an Austrian dialect style
so the translation may not be accurate
but I think it captures the sentiment of the men's enthusiasm.
The card has a postmark of 8 May 1905 from Wien
which must have annoyed Liebe Tante (Dear Aunt) Hermine
as it was stamped in the center of her nephew's message.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 On this next postcard a Fiaker driver
urges his scrawny stead to pick up speed
as he holds onto a large trunk belonging to his fare,
an old woman moving her possessions
which includes a canary in a cage.
The title reads:

Schnellfahrer mit Schachteln!
~
Fast drivers with boxes!

 

The card was sent from Praha, the Czech name for Prague
but the date is unclear. The writer has only 12/10
which is likely just month and day.
However Schönpflug's signature has either 907 or 909
so it is probably from before 1910.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

In the glory days of the Hapsburg Empire
Wien was filled with military men in uniform
who feature in many of Schönpflug's clever illustrations.
Here two women in a coach seem bemused
by the attention they receive from several officers.
Their stylish hats appear dull
compared to the soldier's flashy uniforms.
The caption reads:

Bei der Parade.
~
At the parade.

 

The card was never posted
but likely dates from around 1910.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

Wien is noted as a very walkable city
but obviously not everyone is able to get around on foot.
Here Schönpflug shows a rather stout woman
being hauled by a small donkey cart.
The caption is:

150 Kilo Liebreiz
~
150 kilograms of charm

 

 

 This amusing card was never posted
but Schönpflug helpfully adds [1]909.
The skill and attention he placed
on painting horses and donkeys
suggest someone who loved animals
and surely Schönpflug condemned
any abuse of Wien's workhorses.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

In this last postcard Schönpflug paints
another bustling thoroughfare in Wien.
Coaches and horses seem to fly down the avenue
as a stalwart policeman stands in the roadway
presumably to direct traffic
or rescue pedestrians. 

The title reads:

Wien:  Im Prater
~
Vienna: In the Prater

 

 The postmark is partly unclear
but I think it has a date of 26 XI 08 or maybe 09.

 

 

 

The technology of early photography
limited the ability of cameras
to record motion and color.
Consequnetly vintage photos
portray people in static positions 
colored by a narrow band of black/grey/white hues.

But the only contraint limiting an artist
is their imagination.
Which is why,
besides his witty caricatures
and comical situations, 
I enjoy the way Fritz Schönpflug
illustrates Wien as a city
of dynamic action and vibrant colors.
These postcards are not just popular art
but a kind of time machine for history.
 

 

 

But in his time, a new photographic system
was developed that could capture movement.
As the cine film camera would prove,
movies were a kind of time machine too.
Here are two old films of Schönpflug's Wien
colorized by modern digital magic.
The first is from 1906
and the second one 1905 and 1915.
I like to think Fritz is in these films
sitting on a park bench with his sketchbook.

 * * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more of Fritz Schönpflug's
postcards of Old Wien,
try these stories:
Getting Around in Old Wien
Getting Around Old Wien part 2

 

 

 

 

 

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where everyone is waiting for the Number 22 bus.