Germany


It seems that there are several editions of Kurt Hielscher's photoalbum of Germany with quite some differences in between the collection of the photos. This I only realized when somebody showed me the index of his 1925 copy. Before I assumed that the different editions were reprints of the first edition. Now this makes it more interesting to achieve other editions as well. Within the map I have included the places of my 1938 edition. Included are the territories belonging to East Prussia, today's parts of Poland and Kaliningrad Oblast in today's Russia. Later I also managed to achieve the 1924 and 1941 edition.


For me Germany was always our neighbouring country we passed through when going on our holiday trips abroad to Southeastern Europe or to Austria for skiing. Thanks to Kurt Hielscher's Germany photobook I found a way to discover and enjoy all those beautiful places in Germany I never actually thought of existed.

For me Germany was always our neighbouring country we passed through when going on our holiday trips abroad

As said, another edition I have in my possession is the one from 1941. I achieved in December 2019 just before a trip to the Czech Republic when I found out, by coincidence, that Kurt Hielscher included photos from occupied territories in the Czech Republic, Poland and for example France as well. I was shocked and baffled to see Kurt Hielscher incorporated photos from the Czech Republic in an edition of his Germany photobook published during the Second Wolrd War. On the other I could make rephotograph old photos in cities like Prague and for example Ceský Krumlov


Working on it in Stralsund, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 28th of July 2020


View on Würzburg Castle and the Wohnmobilstellplatz, Würzburg, Bayern, 27th of December 2019


Working on it in Limburg an der Lahn, Hessen

These photos were not the only reasons I was shocked, there is even more. I tell about that in my online presentation for the Geographical Society of Philadelphia. This edition also triggered me to find out more about Kurt Hielscher's life after the publication of the series of his photobooks and I will publish my findings here later on the subpage about Kurt Hielscher.  

To date most rephotos in Germany I made during the winter 2019-2020 trip to the Czech Republic (for example Limburg an der Lahn, Würzburg and Merseburg) and during our 2020 summerholidays (for example Raesfeld, Stralsund and Quedlinburg) and incidentally to Passau and Aachen as well.  


Camping on a parking lot in Quedlinburg, 7th of August 2020



Tangermünde, Sachsen-Anhalt, 7th of August 2020

Soest, Nordrhein-Westfalen, 12th of August 2020

Rügen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 29th of July 2020


Below: sunsetview on the Kummerower See where we stayed on Campingpark Sommersdorf for one night, 3rd of August 2020. Photo: Casper Molenaar.

In the footsteps of  Kurt Hielscher