Antique & Vintage Postcards

Color chromolithograph postcard from the "Gruss aus Alt Hamburg" (Greetings from Old Hamburg) historical series, depicting the Great Fire of Hamburg at the Zollenbrücke on the night of May 5–6, 1842. The dramatic nighttime scene shows the canal lit by flames consuming the buildings along the quay at left, smoke billowing in red and orange across the sky, while boatmen on the water below frantically load goods from the burning warehouses onto small craft. The historic title cartouche "Gruss aus Alt Hamburg" appears at upper right in ornate Gothic lettering.