Antique & Vintage Postcards

A sweeping bird's-eye panorama of Stará Boleslav (Old Boleslav) in Bohemia unfolds across this mailed interwar postcard, the twin onion-domed towers of the Baroque Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary rising above a tight medieval streetscape of red-tiled rooftops and half-timbered gables. Stará Boleslav carries one of the weightiest histories in Central Europe: it is the site where Duke Wenceslas — the "Good King Wenceslas" of Christmas carol fame — was murdered by his brother Boleslav in 935 AD, and the town has been a Marian pilgrimage centre ever since. The real-photo card was published by Nakl. F. Černý of Stará Boleslav and mailed from the town with a Czechoslovak 1 Kč stamp bearing the portrait of President Tomáš Masaryk (Scott Czechoslovakia #175 or similar interwar definitive). The reverse carries a handwritten message in Czech, sent to a woman addressed as Frau Cecilie at Höllischgasse 12/45, Wien III, Austria — a letter-style message discussing a Sunday visit to Boleslav, a missed train, and family news, signed with a first name. The postmark is partially legible from Stará Boleslav. The "T" marking in blue crayon at upper right of the address panel indicates a postage-due notation applied by Austrian postal authorities. Condition: Very good — sharp photo, slight toning at edges.