Skating on Ice for the New Year

 

In some parts of the world
winter has a magic that can warm the heart,
if not the body, too.

One of those places is Wien ~ Vienna, Austria,
where the season's cold weather
never seems to stop its people
from enjoying the best Gemütlichkeit,
 that German sentiment of comfortable friendliness and good cheer.

This postcard of happy couples
skating, dancing, and slipping on an ice rink
to the music of a brass band
offers a suitable caption for the season.

Glückliches Neujahr
~
Happy New Year

The illustration is the work of one of my favorite postcard artists, Fritz Schönpflug ( 1873 – 1951), an Austrian artist who created hundreds of clever, humorous caricatures of Viennese and Austrian life in the early 1900s.  This card was sent as a new year's greeting on 1 January 1915.

* * *

Schönpflug published his cards in series on a theme, in this case numbered B.K.W.I. 556. This next card belongs to that same series and shows a typical showoff skater zipping by other less agile skaters. The artist's deft hand lets us recognize who will stay upright and who will fall. The card was never posted. 

 I've only tried ice skating a few times when I was much younger and never acquired any competence in balancing myself on narrow metal blades. However it was enough to convince me that on skates I am unstable at any speed faster than being completely stationary with a firm grip on a handrail. Maybe better holding on with both hands. 

* * *

Fritz Schönpflug captured that worried feeling very neatly in his characters where he paints skaters of different skill levels. Here a young woman's face has an expression of apprehension as she loses hold of her partner's hand. What will happen next? A youngster speeding past knows!

This postcard was mailed in the imperial era with an impressive red 10 heller stamp of the kaiserliche-königliche österreichische post, but the postmark was smudged. I think the series actually dates from the winter of 1909-1910. What makes this card fun is that the writer begins their greeting/message with a date AND time. 31/12  11½ h   nacht ~ night. The Imperial Austrian Postal Service must have been very dedicated to work so late.

* * *

In this next card a large woman is listing to one side and requires the assistance of two men to keep her upright on her skates, but they are fighting a losing battle. Everyone can foresee the outcome of this icy escapade. At least she seems to have good padding. 

This card was sent from Weimar, Germany on 31 December 1910. 

* * *

My last postcard shows people ice skating at night with the ice rink illuminated by street lamps, which in this era were gas flames. Behind the rink in a covered pavilion is a band or orchestra providing suitable music for everyone gliding around on the ice. I must admit, it looks like fun. 

This card was never used, but someone wrote the series number on the lower corner, 556/7. This means that my collection is still missing two of Schönpflug's ice skating series. Perhaps I will get lucky this new year and find them. Stay tuned. I have a lot more of Fritz Schönpflug's delightful postcards to feature on this blog.

I've only been to Wien twice. Once for a week long summer music festival, and then several years later for a very brief day when I was a member of an American chamber orchestra that performed at the famous Wiener Konzerthaus. It was February and the city was covered in snow that day. Though it was very cold walking around to see a few famous sites I instantly fell in love with Wien's winter charm and beautiful culture. 

I've since learned that Fritz Schonpflug was illustrating a tradition of ice skating in Wien that has long been part of its winter lifestyle. Every year the city opens the Wiener Eistraum at Vienna's City Hall on the Rathausplatz. It is the largest ice skating park in the world with over 9,000 m² of ice covered landscape stretching between the Rathaus and Burgtheater. Here is a YouTube video that was taken during the Wiener Eistraum 2023. I think it best captures that magic of Vienna's winter season. And I like the music, too, even if it isn't exactly a brass band.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday.

I wish everyone good health,
much joy, and great fortune

in the new year.