Stately and timeless in sharp black-and-white gelatin silver, this real-photo postcard presents the Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) of Bamberg, Bavaria — one of Germany's most extraordinary medieval civic buildings, famously constructed on an artificial island in the middle of the Regnitz River in the 14th century and crowned with an extravagant Baroque tower added in 1744, its ornate carved gable and archway framing a glimpse of the cobbled lane beyond, while a solitary woman in a summer dress crosses the bridge in the foreground. Bamberg's Altstadt is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Rathaus is its most iconic image. This card was mailed August 7, 1939 — barely four weeks before Germany invaded Poland — from Bamberg to an address in Nürnberg (Nuremberg), carrying an intimate handwritten message in German old script. The stamp, a 6 Pfennig Hindenburg definitive of the Deutsches Reich, is cancelled with a machine slogan for the "Internationale Leipziger Messe" (International Leipzig Trade Fair), adding a striking layer of irony given the catastrophic events weeks away. The sender appears to reference travel, perhaps an excursion to Bamberg, and mentions the city's character and Selbstständigkeit (independence/character).